City officials in small Iowa town faces string of charges

ARMSTRONG, Iowa (AP) — The mayor, police chief, and current and former city clerk of a small Iowa town have been charged with a string of felonies and misdemeanors after a multi-year investigation uncovered embezzlement and other abuses, authorities say. The Emmett County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday in a news release that the Iowa Attorney General’s Office filed the charges against Armstrong Mayor Greg Buum, police chief Craig Merrill, city clerk Tracie Lang, and former city clerk Connie Thackery on Thursday. The sheriff’s office said the investigation uncovered “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.”