Internal Investigation File Opened

St. Clair County Sheriff's Office

High Severity Internal investigation Delayed investigation
3
People Involved
1
Sources
Type
Internal investigation
Severity
High
Outcome
Delayed investigation
People
3 involved

What Should Have Happened

  • Internal investigation should have been opened within 24-48 hours of arrest
  • Evidence should be preserved immediately after incident
  • Administrative action should not wait 17 days
  • Sheriff should have recused himself and external agency engaged

What Actually Happened

  • Investigation file not opened until 17 days after the arrest
  • Critical documentation created more than two weeks after incident
  • Marc King continued working during entire 17-day delay
  • Sheriff Mat King did not recuse himself from oversight

Event Details

Event Summary

On November 23, 2022 - seventeen days after the arrest - Matthew Pohl formally opened an internal investigation file regarding Marc King ’s OWI arrest.

Timeline Gap

DateEvent
November 6, 2022Marc King arrested for OWI at ~1:30 a.m.
November 6, 2022Sheriff Mat King notified
November 8-10, 2022Social media posts appear
November 23, 2022Investigation file opened (17 days later)

What the Testimony Shows

From Captain Pohl’s deposition:

“On November 23rd a file was opened; is that what you’re saying?”

The file was designated as the 11th internal investigation of 2022.

Delayed Documentation

According to testimony, a supplemental report was also created on November 23rd regarding the events of November 6th. This means critical documentation was created more than two weeks after the incident occurred.

Why the Delay Matters

  • Evidence preservation becomes more difficult over time
  • Witness memories fade
  • The delay allowed time for potential coordination of accounts
  • Text messages from the time period were later deleted by multiple parties
  • Marc King continued working during this 17-day gap
  • No administrative action was taken during this period
  • The Sheriff (Marc’s brother) did not recuse himself

Sources & Documentation