Former Missouri police chief sentenced for excessive force

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former police chief in southeast Missouri has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for violating a woman’s civil rights. Marc Tragesser, the former chief in Marble Hill, was sentenced Tuesday for using excessive force during a custody dispute. Prosecutors said that in November 2018, Tragesser went to the woman’s home and falsely claimed he had a court order allowing the paternal grandmother of the woman’s children to take the children. When the woman asked to see the court order, Tragesser shoved and handcuffed her. He detained the woman until she agreed to turn over the children to the grandmother, who had no custody rights.