Sarah Palin’s son arrested for domestic violence, after police find injured girlfriend hiding under bed

The oldest son of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was arrested in a domestic violence case in which his girlfriend was afraid he would shoot himself with an AR-15 assault rifle, according to court documents.

Track Palin, 26, is charged with assault, interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime and possessing a weapon while intoxicated in connection with the incident Monday night at the Wasilla, Alaska, home of his parents, where he lives, according to an affidavit by police.

The girlfriend told authorities she was punched in the face by Palin, who is the oldest child of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and a conservative leader.

The charges were filed Tuesday, the same day Sarah Palin appeared in Iowa to endorse Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump before voting begins with the Midwestern state’s caucuses.

There is no telephone listing for the girlfriend. The court documents say the woman, Track Palin’s girlfriend of one year, had bruising and swelling around her left eye, and she said her right knee hurt after Palin kicked her there.

Palin family attorney John Tiemessen declined to comment on the matter other than to say in an email that respect for the family's privacy is appreciated “as Track receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need.” Palin’s arraignment was held Tuesday, but Tiemessen was not sure if he entered a plea yet.

Track Palin spent a year deployed in Iraq with the Army. When his mother was the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008, she spoke at her son’s deployment ceremony in Fairbanks, one of the few trips back to Alaska while on the campaign trail that fall.