St. Louis sheriff spent on patches, dry cleaners, attorney

ST. LOUIS — In May, the embattled city sheriff’s office signed off on an $11,700 payment, for new uniform patches for its deputies.

A few weeks later, the office bought a flag for the department, for another $380.

Then — even as Sheriff Alfred Montgomery faced questions over his spending and behavior — the office spent another $5,000 to retain an attorney specializing in federal criminal defense.

Recently released bank statements and other records are beginning to fill in the gaps in what’s known about a spending spree that has drawn the ire of city officials and put Montgomery in the crosshairs of the state attorney general. There are the well-known purchases — $6,000 for security robots, $18,000 for new uniforms, $28,000 for gold-plated badges and $56,000 for Montgomery’s shiny black