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Posted Monday, July 06, 2009
By Caitlin Belue, AFIT JA Summer Hire
While many students here at AFIT can commiserate with the stress a master’s or doctoral program can bring, few turn to theft as a means to an end. As First Lt. Michael O. Clark’s attorney cited during his recent General Courts-Martial, mental duress was enough to convince him that larceny was an excusable offense.
First Lt. Clark, a student at AFIT beginning fall of 2007, was in the master’s program for Electrical Engineering. He spent his free time in Pleasantville, New Jersey, maintaining a rental property to bring in additional income for his family.
On March 7, 2008, Lt. Clark was stopped and questioned outside the Egg Harbor, NJ, Home Depot for questionable behavior. To asset protection, it appeared that he was trying to steal four Craftsman windows, valued at $540. Prior to this questioning, Lt. Clark had returned a faucet he’d simply plucked from the store’s shelves before approaching the returns desk, and also made a small purchase. These actions showed that Lt. Clark wasn’t a first time offender and obviously had a scheme in mind. By purchasing small items, and then walking out with big ticket items, he was able to still produce a receipt; this allowed Lieutenant Clark to walk out of the store with stolen merchandise. Lt. Clark used this scheme on at least two separate occasions.
Images from March 4, 2008, show a man matching Lt. Clark’s description, pushing a cart holding two kitchen base cabinets out the front entrance of Home Depot. Unfortunately, due to a computer malfunction, the video from both March 4 and March 7 was destroyed, and only a few still images of the crime remained as evidence for the court martial.
During the course of the investigation, Lt. Clark’s rental property was examined for the missing cabinets. OSI Agent Gould was able to take pictures and measurements of each cabinet, and found them to be strikingly similar to those missing from Home Depot.
Lt. Clark was also accused of providing a false official statement to a superior officer. After securing a one day pass from his section leader, Maj. Birchenough, Lt. Clark proceeded to tell his class leader, Lt. Col. Ryer, that he was “on a pass” and would “return Wednesday,” a full three days later than was approved.
Unfortunately, Lt. Clark’s actions on March 4 and March 7 will have a negative impact on not only himself but also on his wife and four children. Lt. Clark’s wife, who testified in the case, said he was an excellent father and provider, although he acted childlike at times.
The trial for Lt. Clark’s offenses began May 8, 2009, at the Military Justice Courtroom on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Lt. Clark pled not guilty to all counts. After reviewing all of the evidence, the military judge found Lt. Clark guilty of both larceny offenses and not guilty of the false official statement.
Students at AFIT are encouraged to bring issues with stress, financial problems, and academic worries to Student Services, their section leader, or a trusted friend before the problem spirals out of control and becomes a legal issue, like it did for Lt. Clark.
“I believe the court gave Lt. Clark a fair hearing on all the facts; however, I am glad that the court held true to the principles of integrity. We can’t just sweep this type of behavior under the rug,” said Col. Lisa Harrington, AFIT Dean of Students.
First Lt. Michael O. Clark was sentenced June 9, 2009, to five months in confinement for two counts of larceny committed at a Home Depot Store in Egg Harbor, New Jersey. He was also dismissed from the Air Force, which is a punitive discharge for an officer.