A former officer at the Johnson County Sherriff’s Office in Kansas had his police license revoked after he was caught trying to sell a nearly $400 store Pokemon Cards.
As this disciplinary request (above The Kansas City Star) explained, the man – identified as William Knight – had been a “full-time law enforcement officer” with the Sheriff’s Office since March 2019. In May of that year he was “shopping at a retail store” in uniform. when he “raised the suspicion of an asset protection investigator.”
It turns out that Knight had been caught taking “several barcodes from cheap items he had around the house,” taped them to the back of 12 whole boxes of Pokémon cards, and figured he could get away with it to buy them at a greatly reduced price.
However, the cashier immediately noticed something was wrong, and after alerting the Asset Protection Investigator, Knight pretended he just got “a call” and needed to leave the store immediately. However, he was quickly identified and later had to admit that he had in fact attempted to deceive her, leading to his criminal arraignment on one count of “unlawful acts related to theft detection.”
While Knight escaped criminal prosecution, his lawsuits were also brought before the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the government agency that oversees the appointment of police officers across the state. Noting that Knight was unable to continue the service because he “lacks the requisite personal qualities of integrity,” he revoked his license to serve as an officer last month (Knight had held his position in the Johnson’s office County Sherriff gave up on the incident three days later, so this wasn’t a dismissal but rather a deterrent from getting police work elsewhere in the state).
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“Unfortunately, at a time of intense stress and anxiety, he exercised poor judgment which resulted in this arrest and indictment,” Knight’s attorney said in a statement sent to The Kansas City Star. “Despite his release from the JCSO, Mr. Knight is employed, supporting his family and attempting to make amends with the victim, his community and his family through the prosecutor’s diversionary program.”
