MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — The Mayor of Michigan City has been formally charged by the LaPorte County prosecutor.
Mayor Ron Meer is facing eight counts of intimidation, false informing, and official misconduct. The charges have to do with the ongoing drama between Meer and the city’s police department.
Two weeks ago, the Michigan City Police Department chief and his two assistants resigned because they say Meer asked them to stop cooperating with the LaPorte County Drug Task Force after the task force had arrested Meer’s step-son Adam Bray.
Meer has since named a new police chief.
Bray was picked up by officers and charged win the middle of October with cocaine possession, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and resisting law enforcement. He’s scheduled to be back in court in December.
Details surrounding the charges filed against Meer have not been made public. Court records do show that two judges have recused themselves from the case because of their connections to Meer and city leadership.
Meer’s attorneys are calling the charges “a political hatchet job.” Attorney Scott King tells the Northwest Indiana Times he finds it “absolutely incredible that any reputable prosecutor would ask for charges on the eve of an election.”
Meer, a Democrat, is seeking a third term as the Mayor of Michigan City. LaPorte County prosecutor John Lake, also a Democrat, is refuting that claim saying that charges have absolutely nothing to do with the election.
(PHOTO: brianajackson/Thinkstock)
