A state lawmaker’s public defense of indicted Prichard Police Chief Walter Knight has drawn a sharp response from Mobile County’s top prosecutor, setting off a public dispute over how the case against Knight has been handled.
State Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Saraland, took to Facebook to say he was “deeply disappointed” with how Knight has been treated since a Mobile County grand jury indicted him last week. Knight, along with Maj. Aaron Tucker, faces charges of second-degree theft by deception and misusing their positions for personal gain. Prosecutors allege the two worked funeral processions for private income while on duty with the Prichard Police Department.
Prichard Mayor Carletta Davis said Friday that Knight had resigned from his position, though Knight’s wife disputed that account.
Bracy, who was born and raised in Prichard and represents the city in the Alabama Legislature, argued that the conduct described in the indictment is common practice among law enforcement officers across the state. “Law enforcement officers across this state who are assigned take home vehicles routinely use those vehicles in the course of their daily lives,” he wrote. “Officers stop at the store, pick up their children, run errands, and many also work approved off duty assignments, including as courtesy officers at apartment complexes. That is a reality across Alabama and America.”
Bracy also criticized how authorities took Knight into custody, calling it “unnecessary and deeply disrespectful.” He wrote that the process “appeared designed not simply to arrest him, but to publicly humiliate him and destroy his reputation before he has had his day in court.”
Bracy pointed to Knight’s tenure with the department, noting he is a 26-year veteran who has served as chief for the last nine years, as reason he deserved better treatment. “From my perspective, these charges appear excessive, and what began as an investigation is beginning to look more like a witch hunt,” Bracy wrote. “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.”
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood pushed back on Bracy’s characterization, defending his office’s decision to pursue charges against Knight and Tucker. “I reject the idea of tolerating any amount of criminal behavior in a police department,” Blackwood said in a written statement. “Walter Knight was indicted for allegedly conducting and being paid for side jobs while on-duty and also being paid by the City of Prichard. That is a crime.”
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, which took Knight into custody, has defended how the arrest was carried out. Spokesperson Lori Myles said allowing media access during the transport of a high-profile suspect serves a transparency purpose rather than an attempt to embarrass a defendant. “The purpose is transparency and public information, not humiliation,” Myles said.
Bracy has also pointed to a special grand jury’s recommendation that the Prichard Police Department be abolished and rebuilt entirely, an idea raised alongside the indictments. He has acknowledged, however, that such a recommendation carries no binding legal authority on its own and would require separate action from city or county officials before anything could actually change.
The dispute highlights the broader challenges facing Prichard, a working-class city in Mobile County that has weathered years of financial and leadership turmoil. The Prichard Police Department has faced scrutiny before over staffing and resources, and the indictment of its longtime chief adds fresh uncertainty for a department already stretched thin serving the city’s residents.
Second-degree theft by deception is a felony under Alabama law, and a conviction on the misuse-of-office charges could carry additional penalties. Neither Knight nor Tucker has entered a plea in Mobile County court as of this report, and both remain innocent of the charges unless proven otherwise. It remains unclear who is currently leading day-to-day operations at the Prichard Police Department amid the uncertainty over Knight’s employment status.
The case is likely to remain a flashpoint in local politics in the weeks ahead, with Bracy’s remarks putting a sitting state legislator at odds with the county’s elected chief prosecutor over how the investigation was carried out. Residents of Prichard and the surrounding Mobile County area will be watching closely as the case moves through the court system.
Update (Aug. 1, 2026):
Update (Aug. 1, 2026): State Rep. Napoleon Bracy has offered additional detail on why he considers the arrest procedure used against former Prichard Police Chief Walter Knight excessive. In further remarks, Bracy described Knight as having been “surrounded by officers with rifles drawn” and “paraded in his police uniform” during the arrest, calling the spectacle “unnecessary and deeply disrespectful” and arguing it was designed to publicly humiliate Knight ahead of any court proceedings.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney Keith Blackwood have continued to defend how the case has been handled. The Sheriff’s Office maintains that allowing media access during the arrest was intended “for transparency and public information, not humiliation,” while Blackwood has reiterated that the office does not tolerate “any amount of criminal behavior in a police department,” standing by the decision to pursue charges against Knight and Maj. Aaron Tucker.