BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Police arrested a man for attempted second degree murder after running over his ex-wife's girlfriend with his vehicle.

The incident occurred on Sept. 3 in the 1100 block of North 36th Street. BRPD arrived on the scene to find the woman laying in the middle of the street and was able to tell police that 39-year-old Francis Hardnett ran her over with his vehicle. The woman was later transported to the hospital for her injuries.

Police spoke with three witnesses who stated that Hardnett was arguing with the woman and the woman's girlfriend, who is Hardnett's ex-wife. Witnesses said that Hardnett left the home and drove north bound on the street, but then came to an abrupt stop. Hardnett then put his vehicle in reverse and drove towards the woman who was standing in the middle of the street. The woman was able to move out of the way to avoid being hit, but Hardnett stopped the vehicle again and drove forward. This time, Hardnett hit the woman and then drove away.

Hardnett later returned to the street while BRPD was still investigating the incident. He was arrested and later booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for attempted second degree murder.