Local
Washington Missouri Police Finish Nieves Investigation
By Bob Hudson
Aug 26, 2010 - 2:17:52 PM

The Washington, Missouri police department has completed a probe into State Representative Brian Nieves’ alleged assault of Dick Stratman’s campaign manager following a hard-fought and at times dirty race for Missouri's 26th District Senate seat. Police chief Ken Hahn says a final report has been sent to the Franklin County prosecutor’s office for possible charges. Chief Hahn says it's unclear whether the evidence would go to a grand jury, or whether Prosecutor Bob Parks alone will decide whether to file charges. Other than that, Hahn declined to comment on the report's findings, and the Franklin County prosecutor was unavailable for comment.  

Nieves is accused of threatening 24-year-old Shawn Bell with a handgun, then allegedly head-butting and slapping him around and forcing him to text message Stratman's supporters and Nieve's wife to admit he made up bad things about Nieves in the campaign, all of which Nieves denies. Bell worked on the campaign of Nieve's opponent Dick Stratman, and reportedly stopped by Nieve's campaign headquarters to congratulate the campaign treasurer for Nieve's victory.