A third Prichard police officer has been charged in the sweeping criminal probe of the city’s police department, this time a captain accused of double-dipping — using his badge to land paid private security work while he was on the city’s clock.
Capt. Michael Knight was arrested Wednesday night on charges of first-degree theft by deception and using his office for personal gain, one week after Prichard Police Chief Walter Knight and Maj. Aaron Tucker were arrested on charges they used police equipment and public time to escort private funeral processions.
The Allegations
According to court documents referenced in a Thursday statement from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, Michael Knight used his authority, status and position as a sworn law enforcement officer to obtain compensated private security employment — and worked those side jobs while on duty for the city. Court documents indicate the arrangement deprived the city of approximately $9,920.84.
The District Attorney’s Office said the charges are part of its ongoing criminal investigation into the Prichard Police Department, a probe that has already resulted in charges against officers and the former chief. Metro Jail records showed Michael Knight remained behind bars as of Thursday morning.
A Department Under Siege
The arrest of a captain — a rank typically charged with supervising patrol operations — deepens the leadership vacuum atop a department that has been operating under the shadow of a grand jury investigation since early summer. Chief Walter Knight and Maj. Aaron Tucker were arrested July 22 after a special grand jury charged them with using their public positions for personal gain and second-degree theft by deception, allegations centered on misused police vehicles and work time tied to funeral processions.
Before them, officer Emanuel Dotch was arrested in June on bribery and evidence tampering charges, and officer Jihad Irby faced extortion and bribery counts in early July. Officer Ryan Phillips had been charged earlier in the year on stolen firearms allegations, and officer Malachi Ligon faced theft and privacy charges dating to 2025.
The pattern, prosecutors say, is not a series of isolated lapses but a cultural failure. When a special grand jury examined the department, it recommended that Prichard abolish its police department entirely and rebuild it from scratch — an extraordinary recommendation that now rests with Mayor Carletta Davis and the City Council. Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood has described a “cultural rot” at the agency: a failure to supervise, a failure to follow policies and regulations, and in some cases what he called blatant violations of law.
Using Your Office for Personal Gain
The charge of using a public office for personal gain is Alabama’s answer to public corruption at the employee level. It targets officials and employees who leverage their positions — the authority, access or status their jobs confer — for private benefit. When the defendant is a police officer whose “position” is the power of the badge, prosecutors argue the violation cuts deeper, because public trust in law enforcement is the very asset being spent.
Paired with first-degree theft by deception, the charges allege a straightforward scheme: pay received for security work performed while the city was paying the officer for the same hours. The $9,920.84 figure represents the amount prosecutors say the city lost when officers were paid by the city for hours actually spent on paid private details.
What It Means for Prichard
Each arrest in the investigation has added weight to the grand jury’s recommendation that the city start over. The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office has been running day-to-day law enforcement in Prichard since June, when it took over operations amid the local and federal investigation, and city leaders now face a choice between rebuilding the department from within or contracting with the sheriff’s office for policing.
The District Attorney’s Office says its investigation of the Prichard Police Department is just getting started. For a department whose rank-and-file and command staff now face charges ranging from bribery to theft, Wednesday’s arrest makes clear that no rank is off-limits.