By HARVEY RICE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 1, 2009, 9:02PM

GALVESTON — A man who smacked his sister in the face with a piece of hot pecan pie on Thanksgiving Day may end up in jail on an aggravated assault charge, a Galveston County sheriff's spokesman said Tuesday.
The hot pie caused first- and second-degree burns and required medical treatment, sheriff's spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said. A warrant for the brother's arrest was expected to be issued today, he said.

Tuttoilmondo said he could not release the names of the siblings until the arrest warrant was issued but gave this account: The 26-year old brother from Texas City and 23-year-old sister from Alvin began arguing at their parents' home in Algoa about 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

Tuttoilmondo said he could not release the names of the siblings until the arrest warrant was issued but gave this account: The 26-year old brother from Texas City and 23-year-old sister from Alvin began arguing at their parents' home in Algoa about 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

As the dispute grew, the brother threatened to heave a piece of pecan pie that he was warming in a microwave oven, Tuttoilmondo said. An attempt by the mother to calm the argument failed and the brother carried out his threat, shoving the pie in his sister's face.

Sheriff's deputies were called and the sister sought medical treatment for burns to the left side of her face and neck, Tuttoilmondo said. She later tried to have the case dropped, but under Texas law, family violence cases must be prosecuted.

“One thing that gets lost in a story like this, beyond the humor of someone getting hit in the face with a pie, is that this is an issue of family violence,” Tuttoilmondo said.

“This is the type of thing that law enforcement takes seriously.”

harvey.rice@chron.com