CMPD Officer Suspended Prior To Firing, Arrest

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer accused of sex crimes faced previous internal investigations.

Eyewitness News learned Marcus Jackson was suspended for two days last September.

Records show Jackson filed an accident report after another officer was involved in a crash last July. Jackson recorded the officer's speed at 45 mph. One month later, Jackson changed his report, saying the officer was traveling 65 mph. But two different police sources told Eyewitness News the car's computer revealed it was going at least 75 mph at the time of the crash.

When asked about the incident, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials said " in reference to the accident, we cannot comment on an internal investigation."

Police arrested Jackson last week, charging him of multiple sex crimes while on the job.

CMPD Officer's Arrest Impacts Court Cases

The fallout from the arrest of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer on sexual assault charges is beginning to be felt outside of the police department.

Eyewitness News learned Mecklenburg County prosecutors will be forced to drop charges against many of the suspects arrested by Marcus Jackson.

Jackson was arrested last week after two women, in separate instances, told police they were forced to perform sexual acts after being stopped and questioned by Jackson. He is no longer on the police force.

A spokesman for District Attorney Peter Gilchrist said prosecutors are compiling a list of cases Jackson was involved in. Cases in which Jackson was scheduled to provide significant information will likely be dropped, said Bart Menser.

"It's a truthfulness issue," he said. "How can you ask folks to convict someone else when you have allegations like this?"

Menser said it's the same process used when other officers were charged with crimes in the past. In 2008, officers Gerald Holas and Jason Ross were arrested and charged with tipping off drug dealers. Prosecutors dropped many of the cases they'd been working on.

For Marcus Jackson, the questions go beyond cases that may be dropped.

Years before he became a police officer in September, 2008, Jackson was the focus of domestic violence allegations by two women who told a judge he had physically assaulted them. Both women took out restraining orders against Jackson.

CMPD has declined to say whether those domestic violence incidents should have disqualified Jackson from being hired. Nor has the department said whether Jackson had any additional disciplinary problems during his 15 months with the department.

WSOC