The corruption investigation engulfing the Prichard Police Department has claimed another high-ranking officer. Capt. Michael Knight was arrested Wednesday evening by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, becoming at least the seventh Prichard officer charged as authorities continue to scrutinize how the department has paid and supervised its ranks.
According to a statement from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, Capt. Knight faces two felony counts: first-degree Theft by Deception and Use of Official Position or Office for Personal Gain. Investigators allege he collected $9,920.84 in pay from the city of Prichard for hours when he was actually working private security jobs — a practice commonly referred to as “double-dipping,” in which a public employee is paid twice, once by a government employer and once by a private client, for time that cannot legitimately belong to both.
As of Thursday morning, jail records showed Capt. Knight remained in custody awaiting a bond hearing scheduled for Friday.
A Department Under Scrutiny
Prichard, a city of roughly 20,000 residents just northwest of Mobile in Mobile County, has watched its police department come under intense legal pressure in recent weeks. The charges against Capt. Knight closely mirror — though are not identical to — those already filed against Police Chief Walter Knight and Maj. Aaron Tucker.
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood and Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch announced the arrests of Chief Knight and Maj. Tucker on July 22. Both men were accused of accepting private payment for funeral escort services — off-duty work directing traffic or providing security for funeral processions — while simultaneously drawing pay for being on duty with the department. It remains unclear whether Capt. Knight’s alleged conduct involved the same funeral escort arrangements or a separate scheme, though prosecutors describe the underlying offense as similarly rooted in collecting duplicate compensation for the same hours worked.
At that same July 22 announcement, Blackwood and Burch revealed that a Mobile County grand jury had recommended the Prichard Police Department be “abolished” and rebuilt — a striking recommendation that signaled the scope of the alleged misconduct investigators believe runs through the department’s command structure.
Growing List of Charged Officers
Capt. Knight’s arrest brings the number of Prichard officers charged in the ongoing investigation to at least seven. Two of those officers, Ryan Spencer Phillips and Emanuel Naman Dotch II, face federal charges and are currently being held pending trial, separate from the state-level charges brought against Chief Knight, Maj. Tucker and now Capt. Knight.
Some accounts of the investigation have placed Capt. Knight’s arrest as the sixth in the probe rather than the seventh, underscoring how difficult it has become to keep an exact tally as state and federal cases proceed on separate tracks. Those accounts also describe Officer Phillips’ March arrest as stemming from allegations involving stolen firearms, a detail that had not been widely reported alongside his federal charges.
The overlapping state and federal cases suggest investigators at multiple levels of law enforcement have been examining pay practices, off-duty work arrangements and possible abuse of position within the department over an extended period.
Mayor Says Chief Offered to Resign
Prichard Mayor Carletta Davis has said she asked Chief Walter Knight to step down following his arrest, and that he verbally agreed to resign. However, the chief’s wife has reportedly disputed that account, saying he did not resign. The discrepancy leaves the chief’s employment status with the city unresolved even as the criminal case against him proceeds.
A Lawmaker Raises Concerns
Not everyone has embraced the aggressive pace of the prosecutions. State Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Saraland, publicly criticized the decision to charge Chief Knight with felonies over the funeral escort payments and to have him perform a “perp walk” in front of reporters, a term used when an arrested official is publicly escorted past media cameras.
“From my perspective, these charges appear excessive, and what began as an investigation is beginning to look more like a witch hunt,” Bracy wrote in a Facebook post. “I am concerned that this has become an effort to discredit and dismantle the Prichard Police Department and, ultimately, destroy the City of Prichard rather than pursue justice fairly.”
Why It Matters
Prichard sits directly on the northwest border of the city of Mobile, and its police department’s stability affects public safety for thousands of Mobile County residents. A grand jury recommendation to dismantle and rebuild a municipal police force is a rare and serious step, and the widening list of arrests raises questions about how the department will function while so many of its senior officers — including its chief — face felony charges. Residents, city officials and state lawmakers are likely to continue watching closely as the case develops, particularly regarding who will lead the department and whether further arrests are forthcoming.
South Alabama News will continue to follow developments in this investigation, including the outcome of Capt. Knight’s bond hearing and any further action from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office.
Update (Aug. 1, 2026):
Update (Aug. 1, 2026): Some accounts of the widening Prichard Police Department corruption probe have referred to Capt. Michael Knight as the fifth officer arrested in the investigation, rather than the seventh as reported above. According to one account, Knight is the fifth officer arrested in the probe; other reporting has placed the count as high as seventh, reflecting how fluid and fast-moving the investigation has been. The discrepancy appears to stem from differing methods of tallying arrests across the overlapping state and federal cases.
Additional details have also surfaced about two of the officers arrested earlier in the investigation. Jihad Hasan Irby was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree extortion, two counts of bribery, and one count of use of office for personal gain. Emanuel Dotch II, who faces federal charges in connection with the probe, was charged specifically with bribery, evidence tampering, conspiracy to commit extortion, and related civil offenses.