Jill Disis

jill.disis@indystar.com

Newly released court documents say the Indianapolis police officer arrested Friday attacked a Noblesville Fire Department captain because the officer was jealous that the man had a date with the officer’s former girlfriend.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer David Reece, 45, is charged with two counts of battery, one count of residential entry and a count of criminal confinement. The last two charges are class D felonies that each carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.

According to a probable cause affidavit released Tuesday, Reece confronted Noblesville Fire Department Capt. Joseph Archer just before 11:30 p.m. Friday at a luxury home development in the 8800 block of William Penn Circle. The home is owned by Reece’s former girlfriend, Rebecca Churchward.

The incident started brewing earlier in the day when Reece and Churchward got into a text message argument over a date Churchward had planned with Archer, court documents say. Reece and Churchward have been in an on-and-off relationship for the past two years but recently started seeing each other again.

Court documents say Reece sent several messages during the exchange. One reads, “You know what I do for a living. Joe Archer. This won’t be difficult for me.”

And another: “Your drama is just starting for this night.”

That evening, Churchward told police, Reece showed up at her residence, grabbed a female friend that was staying over and began shouting at her. Court documents say Churchward told Reece to get out of her house several times.

As Churchward was ordering Reece to leave the home, court documents say, Archer arrived. The documents say Reece threw a punch at Archer — missing him — before the two men began to wrestle in the hallway.

Police arrived after the fight and arrested Reece. According to a police report, police also impounded Reece’s Chevy truck and confiscated a man’s wallet and cellphone.

Reece is due in Marion Superior Court for an initial hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday. He will be referred in coming weeks to the department’s employee assistance program as well as to the IMPD’s Office of Professional Development and Police Wellness, IMPD said.

The arrest marks the second IMPD officer to face criminal charges in the past month. In late March Cory Owensby, 33, was arrested after a Marion County grand jury indicted him on 13 criminal counts of official misconduct, false reporting and criminal conversion. Owensby, the son of Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Bill Owensby, is accused of mishandling evidence in five investigations he handled during the past two years.

Star reporter Jeff Swiatek contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis.