CROSBY, Minn. (AP) - A feud that began when the mayor of a Minnesota Iron Range town criticized police during his 2016 campaign and was later arrested is not over yet.
Former Crosby mayor Jim Hunter, who claims he is the victim of a small-town vendetta, is suing the town’s former police chief and lieutenant for defamation, the Star Tribune reported. He says they used their official positions to spread lies, damage his reputation and accuse him of crimes. Hunter is also suing the city of Crosby, which 125 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.
“I don’t give up,” Hunter said Friday. “I think abuse of power is a terrible, terrible thing. When this incident started, it was bad, bad, bad. Now I think there’s an opportunity to express the truth and straighten out some of the things that have happened.”
A civil complaint accuses former Crosby Police Chief Kim Coughlin, who retired this month, and former Lt. Kevin Randolph, who now works as an investigator for a Minnesota community college, of plotting to prevent Hunter from being elected because they feared for their jobs. Hunter says the defamatory statements included lies about criminal behavior.
Randolph declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday, saying, “Some people can’t quit when they’re ahead.” Coughlin did not return a phone message from the newspaper.
Pat Collins, an attorney representing Coughlin, Randolph and the city of Crosby, said he believes the claims lack merit and they are working on a response.
Hunter was arrested in 2017 and charged with theft by swindle, assault, fraud and receiving stolen property. Police charged that he had swindled a local resident in the sale of a convenience store Hunter owned. He also was accused of financial improprieties connected with a used-car lot he owned.
Over the next two years, Hunter was acquitted by three juries in three trials and prosecutors dropped the remaining charges against him.
“The police got rid of an elected official through trumped-up charges to protect their interests,” said Ed Shaw, Hunter’s attorney. “That’s fundamentally wrong. They need to be held accountable so it never happens again.”
___
Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.