LAPLACE — A local man accused of strangling his pregnant girlfriend last summer turned himself in to authorities this week.

According to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, 20-year-old Devin Richard Jenkins of New Sarpy was arrested Thursday and was booked with domestic abuse battery involving strangulation of a pregnant victim (felony) as well as contempt of court.

He is being held in custody in lieu of a $7,669.50 bond.

Deputies responded to the 200 block of Grove Park in LaPlace June 15, when a 19-year-old complainant told officers she and her boyfriend, identified as Jenkins, were engaged in an argument that escalated into a physical altercation.

“Jenkins and the victim were seated in a parked vehicle when he exited the vehicle, opened the passenger door and began to strangle her and attempt to pull her out of the vehicle,” a Sheriff’s Office release stated.

“He then grabbed both of her legs and pulled her out of the vehicle, and the victim fell on the ground.”

Police said Jenkins fled the scene in the vehicle, adding the victim was eight months pregnant at the time.

Emergency medical services arrived, and the victim refused medical assistance.