MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – A dispute between an Indiana mayor and his city’s police department has resulted in a list of felony charges against the public official, according to reports.
Mayor Ron Meer of Michigan City faces six felony counts of intimidation and two misdemeanors for false informing “resulting in substantial hindrance to law enforcement.”
The dispute with the police department began after the recent arrest of Meer’s stepson on narcotic charges – an arrest that Meer claims was politically motivated, South Bend’s WNDU-TV reported.
Shortly after police Chief Mark Swistek and two assistant chiefs resigned, with Swistek alleging the mayor had ordered him to pull an unspecified number of officers out of the department’s anti-drug task force.
Prosecutor John Lake filed the charges against Meer on Wednesday. The charges were supposed to be sealed, however they were unsealed on Friday.
When WSBT contacted Lake by phone, he said the court records were not meant to made public.
Dion Campbell was named the new police chief on Tuesday.
After the Indiana mayor was charged, the judge assigned to his case recused himself because his wife works as corporate council for the city.
Crime has been an issue in the Michigan City mayoral election, WNDU reported.
Michigan City, with a population of about 31,000 people, is located on the south shore of Lake Michigan, near Indiana’s border with Michigan.
