The phrases "state treasurer" and "assault charge," a stark pairing, are in the top sentence of a startling Detroit News article:
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing a request to pursue an assault charge against state Treasurer Andy Dillon after an alleged incident with his ex-wife last month, a spokeswoman said Friday.
“We have a warrant request that has been presented to us by the Redford Police Department that is being reviewed,” Maria Miller said. “It’s a domestic violence allegation.”
Carol Dillon and the state treasurer divorced in March. They have four children. (Facebook photo)
Dillon "is confident that a full investigation will confirm no wrongdoing on his part,” his attorney tells the paper.
As Michigan's chief financial officer, Dillon earns $174,000 a year. He was appointed in January 2011 by the governor and has a key role in recommending the appointment of emergency managers for financially distressed cities and school districts.
The inquiry stems from a July 13 dispute at Carol Dillon's Redford Township home, where they lived when married. The couple’s divorce was finalized March 15 in the family division of Wayne County Circuit Court, Paul Egan reports in the Free Press.
The ex-spouses, who have four children, petitioned for personal protection orders against each other after last month's encounter, says The News' article by Mark Hicks and Jim Lynch.
Carol Dillon accused him of “assaultive behavior” while drunk. In his petition, Andy Dillon claimed she seized his state-issued cell phone from a car. . . .
Shanon Banner, a spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police, confirmed Friday troopers were asked to retrieve a state cellphone in Redford at the time of the incident. . . .
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Susan Hubbard last month signed a one-year mutual restraining order barring Andy Dillon and Carol Dillon from contacting each other unless it involves their minor child.
In an earlier report at Motor City Muckraker, blogger Steve Neavling gives the ex-wife's account of the Redford incident around 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday last month.
Carol Dillon said she returned home to discover her ex-husband had rifled through her house, searching for copies she made of [text] messages, some of which referred derogatorily to her boyfriend, who is black. Outside, she said, she found her husband, drunk and angry.
“He lunged at me from a bush and started grabbing and twisting my arms,” she told me. “I called 911, and he left.” . . .
While filing a complaint at the local police station, Carol Dillon said she was confronted by three state cops in search of her husband’s state-issued cell phone, which she had taken in hopes of proving he was stalking her.“It was very strange,” she told me. “I didn’t even get a chance to file the police report, and they were asking me about his phone.”
Before joining Gov. Rick Snyder's cabinet, Andy Dillon was speaker of the Michigan House, where he represented a western Wayne County district from 2007-11. He tried for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2010, losing to Lansing mayor Virgil Bernero.
He graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1980 and attended the Detroit College of Law before transferred to the University of Notre Dame, where he earned accounting and law degrees.
