A disabled Army veteran will remain held at the Houston County Jail on a charge that he set fire to a Dothan restaurant.
After hearing testimony for about an hour Tuesday from four witnesses, Circuit Court Judge Brad Mendheim said he would take his ruling on a bond reduction for Joshua Allen Garzarek under advisement.
Attorney Jerry Herring, who represented Garzarek, asked the court to reduce the bond for his client’s felony second-degree arson charge to $30,000 and to set the bond for a pending felony drug charge at $7,500. Garzarek will remain held at the Houston County Jail on a $500,000 bond for the arson charge, and without bond for the drug charge.
Dothan police detectives arrested 26-year-old Garzarek in July, the day after fire fighters were called to a fire at the Poplar Head Bar and Grill on Cherokee Avenue. Police say the arson charge stemmed from a domestic dispute between Garzarek and a woman who worked at the restaurant.
Dothan Police Detective Ray Wiehe said Garzarek repeatedly threatened to harm the woman, including one instance in which he threatened to cut off her head with a machete.
Roy Garzarek said his son suffers from several physical ailments from his service in the Army, including a crushed vertebrae and chronic kidney stones. He said his son also suffers from bipolar and anxiety disorder, along with post traumatic stress disorder. He said his son served in the Army from 2003 to 2008, including at least one combat tour in Iraq. He showed the court a large plastic bag with what appeared to be nearly a dozen different types of prescription medications his son had been on prior to his arrest.
“He’s all bark and no bite,” Roy Garzarek said.
District Attorney Doug Valeska asked for the bond to remain unchanged.
“He has mental issues, and we’re concerned,” Valeska said. “I need some kind of assurance this girl won’t be burned alive.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement