Mayor, police chief and clerks in small Iowa town arrested for abusing power

In one incident a city official was accused of attacking a resident with a stun gun to shake them down for money

Booking photo of Mayor Mike Buum, left, and Armstrong Police Chief Craig Merrill, right. (Emmet County Sheriff’s Office)

A slew of city leaders including a mayor and police chief were arrested in a small Midwestern town for abusing their power.

The mayor, police chief, city clerk and a former city clerk in Armstrong, Iowa were arrested for stealing-money, strong-arming residents and falsifying records.

The tiny town of 840 people was shaken after its leadership was removed for its corruption.

“Mayor Greg Buum, police chief Craig Merrill, city clerk Tracie Lang, and former city clerk Connie Thackery were charged with felony and misdemeanor offenses in a 21-count joint trial information approved by the Emmet County District Court,” the Emmet County sheriff said in a statement.

In one incident, a resident of the town said they were attacked by one of the defendants with a stun-gun while they were trying to take money from them.

“The investigation uncovered wrongdoing committed by the defendants, including but not limited to misappropriation of city funds, the presentation of fraudulent public records, deploying a TASER against a civilian in exchange for cash, and falsification of ledgers to conceal embezzlement,” Emmet County Sheriff’s Office said.

In June 2017, the city council voted to seize Mr Merrill's computer and taser, according to Estherville News. The items were turned over to the Emmet County Sheriff's Officer.

The city also asked the State Auditor's Office to audit's its financial financial statements for the fiscal year ending on 30 June, 2016.

"However, at the beginning of our fieldwork, we were informed the City’s computerized accounting system had failed and financial records were not available," a 2017 report from the office stated.

Despite the inoperative computer systems, the report still identified $100,650 of utility collections that had not been deposited and unsupported financial disbursements.

Charges were filed by the Iowa Attorney General's Office after a several-year investigation into their misconduct. The investigation resulted in allegations of theft, record tampering, felonious misconduct, and assault with a deadly weapon, according to a press release.

Mr Buum, Ms Thackery and Mr Merill face class B felonies for ongoing criminal misconduct.

Bond is set at $67,000 for Mr Buum, $44,000 for Ms Lang and $33,000 for Ms Thackery.

State prosecutors have taken over the case and said that additional arrests are pending.