SPD officer charged with theft The officer has been placed on unpaid leave

King County prosecutors charged a Seattle Police Department officer Tuesday with first-degree theft, according to the police agency. King County prosecutors charged a Seattle Police Department officer Tuesday with first-degree theft, according to the police agency. Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close SPD officer charged with theft 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

King County prosecutors charged a Seattle Police Department officer Tuesday with first-degree theft, according to the police agency.

The charged officer is Marysville resident Michael Stankiewicz, a 46-year-old patrol officer in the East Precinct employed by the police department for 20 years.

The charges arose from an investigation that revealed "discrepancies" in his time records, SPD reported. The criminal inquiry alleges that Stankiewicz recorded 55 days' worth of paid time that he was not actually at work, amounting to $23,905.65 in theft from the city.

The case was referred to the Office of Police Accountability. Stankiewicz was suspended with pay Aug. 29, according to SPD.

The OPA made a criminal referral to the King County Prosecutor's Office, which filed the criminal charge. SPD has since placed Stankiewicz on unpaid leave, pending the resolution of the case. He made $49.29 an hour while on duty, according to charging documents.

An East Precinct lieutenant initially discovered the discrepancy Aug. 15, when he was checking the availability of officers and noticed that Stankiewicz was marked on the calendar as working, despite not being at work that day, according to the incident report.

The lieutenant checked agency electronic databases and noticed there were at least a dozen days in recent months that Stankiewicz was designated to be working, but yielded no evidence that he had entered the building or logged in to various computer systems.

A criminal investigation into the matter examined Stankiewicz's activity for 321 days between Oct. 12, 2016 and Aug. 29, 2017, which led to the finding that he was paid for 55 days he didn't work. Included in that time was five days designated for paid jury duty when he was dismissed from jury duty after only one day, according to the charging documents.

Last year, Stankiewicz helped detain a man who shot into a downtown Seattle crowd on New Year's Eve.

State law defines first-degree theft as stealing property or services amounting to more than $5,000.