(Estherville)– Arraignment has been set for a former police officer who faces 84 counts of various charges, some dating back to 2016. Online court documents show Benjamin Scheevel, a former officer with the Estherville and Armstrong Police Departments, is scheduled to be arraigned April 18th in Emmet County District Court.
The charges include non felonious misconduct in office; assault while displaying a dangerous weapon; unauthorized dissemination of criminal history data; unauthorized dissemination of intelligence history data; stalking; stalking with a deadly weapon; obstructing prosecution or defense; theft in the 2nd degree; perjury; tax evasion; and ongoing criminal conduct.
One of the counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and non felonious misconduct in office stems from an incident when Scheevel was an officer with the Armstrong Police Department in which he allegedly deployed a taser at a party in April 2nd, 2016, and then obtained money from party goers to replace darts in the taser. Scheevel is also accused of illegally disseminating intelligence history and criminal history data against numerous people. The tax evasion and perjury charges stem from an incident in which Scheevel is accused of not paying taxes on money earned while repossessing vehicles.
The charges are included in amended trial information filed last week.
