Deputy Pleads Not Guilty to Wife-Battering Charges

A veteran Ventura County sheriff’s deputy accused of battering his wife pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three felony charges, including brandishing his department-issue baton.

Deputy Gary Hughes, an 18-year employee of the department, was arrested last month after a resident in his Thousand Oaks neighborhood reported a domestic dispute, according to authorities.

The 40-year-old deputy was not home when investigating officers arrived and he was not on duty at the time, authorities said.

Hughes was found at another location and arrested on suspicion of spousal battery. Prosecutors later filed criminal charges of battery, brandishing a weapon and making terrorist threats.

But at an arraignment Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court, the deputy’s wife, Mona, told a judge the case has been blown out of proportion.

She asked that a no-contact order be lifted so she and her husband could communicate. The judge granted the request.

A preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 27. Hughes remains free on $20,000 bail. He has been placed on administrative leave from the department pending the outcome of an internal investigation, authorities said.