Officer fired after pepper-spraying 61-year-old

A Golden Meadow police officer, who stopped a 61-year-old woman for having overly tinted windows then pepper-sprayed her, has been fired.

Darren Charpentier, a two-year veteran of the force, was terminated following a meeting Wednesday attended by about 30 residents complaining about incidents involving the officer.
 

Police Chief Randy Chaisson says he had placed Charpentier on administrative leave earlier in the afternoon.

Jennifer Callais, who required medical treatment for heavy bruising and the effects of the pepper spray, said she was stopped by Charpentier twice in five days for the windows in her vehicle.
 

Callais' husband, Terry Callais, said the pickup was purchased secondhand three years ago and the windows were already tinted.
 

The woman told the Houma Courier about getting stopped by the officer.
 

"I got out of my truck and said ‘What did I do?.. He said ‘I’m stopping you for your tinted windows.’ I said, ‘I bought the truck like this, I drive up and down the bayou, and you’re going to stop me for tinted windows now?’ He said ‘Are you arguing with me?"
 

Callais said she went inside and got her husband, and when she went back outside, the officer asked for her license and proof of insurance.  She says she told him "no," and that she would call the State Police.  According to Callais, Charpentier threatened to arrest her if she did so.
 

Callais' husband said that after a Lafourche Parish deputy arrived on the scene as backup, Charpentier asked the couple not to call the state police, then left without writing a ticket.
 

The following Friday, Callais says that Charpentier pulled her over again.
 

"I was coming down St. Louis Street, and I saw the cop car and heard the sirens," According to Callais, she pulled over, but when the officer went to another car, she began to leave.
 

She said that Charpentier confronted her, and she suggested that they go to the Town Hall to discuss the situation with the police chief.  According to Callais, Charpentier said, "You don't tell me what to do."
 

The woman said that as she was explaining that she had been in touch with the state police to test the windows, her foot slipped off the brake pedal, and the truck lurched forward a few feet. 
 

"He jumped through my window, and I grabbed my cell phone to call for help," she said. "When I looked at him, he pepper-sprayed me. He handcuffed my hand and was trying to pull me out of the vehicle. I was in fear for my life, and I didn’t want to get out. He twisted my arm behind my back, and I said ‘You’re hurting me.’ He said ‘That’s what pain is for.'"
 

Callais says Charpentier pepper-sprayed her again, but she stayed in the truck until parish deputies arrived on the scene.

Charpentier could not be reached for comment on Thursday.