Authorities have charged Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer with six felonies. Charges include two misdemeanors counts of false informing, which reportedly hindered the prosecution of Meer’s adult stepson, Adam Bray.
The charges come amid a weeks-long battle between the Indiana mayor and the Michigan City Police Department following Meer’s declaration that the arrest of the 33-year-old Bray was politically motivated.
Police Chief Mark Swistek resigned days later, saying that Meer demanded his department stop cooperating with the LaPorte County Drug Taskforce – the agency that arrested Bray.
But the resignations didn’t end there.
Per WSBT CBS 22:
Swistek along with Assistant Chiefs Royce Williams and Kevin Urbanczyk all simultaneously turned in their resignations. Swistek said in his resignation letter the Mayor’s demand put the community at “unacceptable risk.”
“I apologized for my choice of words to the Chief during a private, heated discussion.” Mayor Meer said in a statement following the resignations. “I did not mean what I said to Chief Swistek and I had no intention of reassigning any officers on the LaPorte County Drug Taskforce.”
Prosecutor John Lake filed the charges against Meer on Wednesday, according to online court records. The charges were supposed to remain sealed, however they were unsealed on Friday. When WSBT contacted Lake by phone, he said the court records were not meant to made public.
Lake had also been in a war of words with Meer after the Mayor accused him of orchestrating his son’s arrest for political gain.
Lake is calling the Mayor’s accusations “completely false.”
Meer’s re-election is set for Tuesday, November 5.
AAN Staff
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