Osage County Sheriff Michael Dixon Jr. was arrested Wednesday for an incident that occurred in Boone County last month.
Dixon, 29, of Belle, was arrested at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday at the Boone County Sheriff's Office on the Class D felony of unlawful use of a weapon, the department reported.
Dixon was arrested following his appearance at the Sheriff's Department for an interview regarding the investigation into his activities last month.
"Specifically, it is alleged that Dixon, shortly before 11 p.m. on March 5 - while in an intoxicated condition - possessed and handled a loaded handgun in a negligent manner while inside the Hitching Post bar in Hartsburg," said Maj. Tom Reddin, the Boone County sheriff's chief deputy.
Dixon was booked into the Boone County Jail, where he posted bond of $4,500 and was released.
His arraignment on the felony charge was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 2 before Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Deborah Daniels.
Phelps County Prosecutor Brendon Fox was appointed as a special prosecutor in a St. Louis County case involving Dixon. He told the News Tribune Wednesday he had "not received any reports relating to the Boone County incident, but I should have them by the end of the week. Once I have them, I will review them and decide what, if any, action needs to be taken."
Dixon is scheduled to appear in St. Louis County Circuit Court next Thursday on his attorney's motion to end his two-year probation early, because the sheriff "has successfully complied with all special conditions of probation and had no other violations of his probation."
He pleaded guilty on July 1, 2014, to a misdemeanor harassment charge involving incidents in Belle in 2012 and 2013.
Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner removed herself from that case and then-Phelps County Prosecutor John Beger was appointed as a special prosecutor.
Following a Highway Patrol investigation, Beger charged Dixon with a felony - taking a four-wheel vehicle on June 26, 2013, even as the owner told him not to - and with four misdemeanor counts, including first-degree sexual misconduct or in the alternative third-degree assault, harassment and stalking.
Under an agreement, Dixon pleaded guilty only to the harassment charge, and now-retired St. Louis County Judge Richard Bresnahan suspended the imposition of any sentence, then ordered Dixon to serve two years of supervised probation. Bresnahan had been named as a special judge in the case after the 20th Circuit judges removed themselves from it, and Bresnahan moved the case to St. Louis County after a change of venue motion in Osage County.
Fox told the News Tribune, "if the police reports are consistent with what is being reported in the news media, I would expect that it will have a negative impact on his chances for early release from probation."
In addition to the general conditions that apply to all probation orders in the state - including obeying all laws and reporting any arrests - special conditions of Dixon 's probation included:
• Submitting to drug and alcohol testing at any time.
• Having no contact with either of the victims in the case, whether directly or through a third party.
• Never mentioning either victim's name publicly, privately or online.
• Never denying or retracting his guilty plea in any public, private or online conversation.
• Taking sexual harassment counseling.
• Paying $430 to the Phelps County prosecutor's office for Beger's mileage.
St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo this week named Fox as the special prosecutor for the Dixon criminal case, because Beger now is a circuit judge based in Rolla.
State law prohibits felons from serving as a sheriff, but because Dixon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, he didn't lose his job automatically. A conviction on the new charge would require him to leave office.
Meanwhile, the state Public Safety department still is trying to revoke his law officer's certificate because of the 2014 plea, since the state's Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) law allows the Public Safety director "to discipline any peace officer licensee who ... has committed any criminal offense."
Although they revoked the certificate at the end of 2014, Dixon won a Cole County Circuit order saying he didn't get a fair hearing in that process. No new hearing has been scheduled yet in that process.
Dixon is in the last year of his first term as Osage County sheriff and is not running for re-election.
Initial coverage:
The Osage County sheriff was arrested today for an incident that occurred in Boone County bar in March.
According to Boone County Sheriff's Department reports, Michael Dixon Jr., 29, of Belle, was arrested at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday at the Boone County Sheriff's Department on the class D felony of unlawful use of a weapon.
Dixon was arrested following his appearance at the sheriff's department for an interview regarding the investigation into his activities last month.
The report alleges Dixon possessed and handled a loaded handgun in a negligent manner while in an intoxicated condition shortly before 11 p.m. March 5 at the Hitching Post bar in Hartsburg.
Dixon was booked into the Boone County Detention Facility where he posted bond of $4,500 and was released.