Prior Lake City Manager Michael Plante has been fired by the City Council following charges that he allegedly choked his wife.
Plante, who was charged Friday by the Scott County Attorney's Office, had been on administrative leave since his arrest last week at his Prior Lake home. He was released from the Scott County jail after posting $1,000 bail.
Charges included three counts of domestic assault including assault by strangulation, a felony.
According to the criminal complaint, Plante's wife told police they were exercising together in the basement of their home when they began to argue. She took his phone and "asked if she should look through it," which she said made Plante angry. He demanded the phone back.
As his wife walked away, the complaint said, Plante grabbed her. As she started up the stairs, he put his hands around her neck and squeezed for three to seven seconds, she said, momentarily preventing her from breathing or talking.
The complaint said that Plante then threw his wife on the floor, pinned her with his knee and took his phone from her before she got away.
"Police saw that [the wife's] neck was very red and had markings on it," the complaint said.
Mayor Kirt Briggs said that Plante's termination was "in the best interest of our employees and residents. Our job is to promote public confidence in the integrity of the administration of city government. Charges of this nature impact this trust."
