Hillsboro Mayor Arrested After Fight With Deputy

HILLSBORO, MO — Dennis Bradley, the mayor of Hillsboro, Mo., a small town about an hour south of St. Louis, was arrested Monday after allegedly starting a fight with a sheriff's deputy. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said Bradley confronted the deputy in a gas station parking lot, part of a long-running feud between the two men. The mayor dared the deputy to take off his badge and gun while poking him in the chest and the confrontation escalated from there, with the deputy eventually using pepper spray to subdue Bradley and arrest him.

Charges have not yet been filed, but the deputy has alleged stalking, assault and resisting arrest. Bradley was released from jail and the deputy was granted a restraining order after the mayor again waited for him beside his car in the jail parking lot Tuesday.

Some city officials have called on Bradley to resign after the encounter, but he has said he will not.

“I told them, ’This is still America,’” Bradley said. “I’m innocent until I’m proven guilty. These are probably misdemeanor charges. Why would I resign?”

Bradley blames the feud on a traffic ticket the deputy wrote him several years ago, but didn't offer details about what caused the latest fight or who started it. The Post-Dispatch also reports the deputy once arrested the mayor's son for a DUI.

“Did I act inappropriately? Maybe so, just a little bit,” he said. “But then again, this is a very personal issue, an attack on my family.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Image via Shutterstock