Police officer accused of stabbing wife on date night

A North Texas police officer is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after his wife accused him of stabbing her in the stomach on date night.

Sgt. Audrey Lee Palmer is a 21-year veteran of the McKinney Police Department. He’s free on $50,000 bond after his arrest early Thursday.

An arrest affidavit says he and his wife were having a date night when a text message arrived on Palmer’s cell phone from a telephone number unfamiliar to his wife.

When his wife called the number, a woman answered by saying, “Hey, babe.”

Palmer and his wife had begun to argue when, according to the affidavit, his wife picked up a steak knife in the kitchen “out of anger.”

Police said a struggle ensued for the knife and the wife was stabbed as Palmer allegedly tried to pin her.

The Dallas Morning News reports Palmer left the room and his wife was unable to call for help because her phone was broken.

The victim used a computer to ask a relative to call police, the paper reports, adding Palmer returned to clean up the blood.

Palmer allegedly drove off with the knife when he saw his wife trying to call for help.

Police say the woman was hospitalized with non life-threatening inuries,