Senator's wife faces charge after dispute

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wife of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was accused Wednesday of hitting a woman in a dispute over mulch at a garden center, police said.
Wanda Baucus, 56, was arraigned in D.C. Superior Court on a charge of simple assault, a misdemeanor, and released on her own recognizance under condition that she stay away from the other woman and the store. The incident took place Tuesday; Baucus turned herself in Wednesday.
Baucus apparently was upset she did not get help loading the mulch into her car while the other woman was being assisted, a police spokesman said.
Witnesses told police that Baucus put a bag of mulch behind the woman's car, preventing her from leaving the store, and that after the exchanging words, reportedly struck the woman several times, police said.
Wanda Baucus' lawyer, David Schertler, said he disagreed with the version of events offered by the police and witnesses.
"Based on what we know, we do not believe that there was any kind of criminal assault in this case and we don't believe there was any basis for the charges," he said.
The lawmaker acknowledged in a statement that there was a "situation" involving his wife. "We are trying to sort it out, going through the proper channels," he said. "I stand by her 110 percent."
The charges were first reported by WRC-TV.
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