(17 TIE) Brownsdale police chief charged with sexual assault

The Brownsdale City Council in November fired its police chief amid accusations he sexually assaulted a woman in August.

According to the complaint filed in Mower County Court, the woman accused Jason Wyatt Mindrup of sexually assaulting her in his truck after leaving a Waltham bar on Aug. 31. Mindrup, 43, of Waltham denied those accusations. According to the complaint, he told investigators the woman asked to go to his house, but he instead drove the woman back to the bar where she had left her phone and purse.

The council first placed Mindrup on administrative leave at its September meeting while the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated. Mindrup was later charged in Mower County Court with felonies for first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Though Mindrup had yet to enter a plea at that point, the council still terminated Mindrup and hired a temporary officer. Mindrup pleaded not guilty several days later, and a pretrial is set to begin in March.