A Denton police officer was arrested Saturday morning after his boyfriend said the officer punched him in the face, a Denton County sheriff’s spokesman said.

Todd Kidwell

Officer Todd Kidwell, 39, was charged with assault causes bodily injury, family violence, a Class A misdemeanor, sheriff’s spokesman Tom Reedy said Sunday.

A passing motorist flagged down a sheriff’s deputy and said that two men were fighting in the empty parking lot of a restaurant in the 1000 block of U.S. Highway 380 in Cross Roads, Reedy said.

The witness also described the vehicle that was in the parking lot to the deputy, who soon pulled over a car resembling that one, the spokesman said.

The deputy spoke with a man who said he and Kidwell got into an argument in the parking lot and Kidwell punched him in the face twice with a closed fist, Reedy said.

After the deputy took down the information in an affidavit, Kidwell was arrested and booked into the Denton County Jail at 6:37 a.m. Saturday.

Kidwell was later released on a $2,500 surety bond, Reedy said.

Along with the sheriff’s office investigation, the Denton Police Department will conduct its own internal investigation, said Denton police Capt. Lenn Carter.

“The incident is being investigated,” he said.

“What the department is concerned about is if any departmental policies or state law was broken. As far as his personal life is concerned, that is a private matter unless the behavior crosses those two policy or law lines,” Carter said.

The police department was notified Saturday of Kidwell’s arrest, but Carter said he hadn’t spoken to him yet.

 The incident would affect Kidwell’s duty status on the police force, putting him on either restricted duty or administrative leave, Carter said, but the decision had not been made Sunday night.

Kidwell has been with the Denton Police Department for 19 years.

 He is an in-service training officer and has previously worked as a school resource officer, Carter said.

The captain said Kidwell has previously been under his command and has shown himself to be “real intelligent” and a “very capable police officer.”

Kidwell also received great reviews from other agencies’ police officer trainees, he said. “I’ve never heard of anything like this … it comes as quite a surprise,” Carter said.

According to the State Bar of Texas Web site, the penalty for the misdemeanor is confinement in jail for up to one year and a fine of up to $4,000.

 There also is a federal law that prohibits anyone convicted of this crime from owning a firearm, Carter said.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .