WATCH: Arpaio's Cold Case Posse: Hitting 100mph Or On the Road To Nowhere... Or, Both Or Neither (Department of Irony, Mysteries or Conspiracies)

File this in the Department of Irony, Mysteries and/or Conspiracies.  At almost the same moment yesterday, Arizona's Politics was publishing its articles on the claim that Sheriff Joe Arpaio had two detectives working on a criminal investigation ancillary to the Obama Birth Certificate investigation and KPHO (Phoenix, Channel 5, CBS affiliate) was teasing its investigative report on an elected official who had gotten his Maricopa County car over 100 mph on several occasions.

CBS 5 - KPHO

Turns out, the well done investigative report on KPHO (by reporters Heather Moore and Gilbert Zermeno) centered on Doug Clark.  Clark is the Constable for the Downtown Justice Precinct.

His name immediately rang a bell here, because it had just come up in research on the MCSO's Cold Case ("MCSOCCP").  Clark was one of the founding directors of the MCSOCCP in 2006, and had submitted the exemption application to the IRS.  And, while he did not factor into Arizona's Politics' articles yesterday, the coincidence was too much to ignore.*

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Incidentally, although yesterday's KPHO report did not mention it, Clark has a long history of appearing in the news media.  Nearly two years ago, KPHO also featured him in an investigative report.

The subject?  That a number of MCSO posse members have criminal records.  Here is the portion about Clark: 

"One posse member with an extensive disciplinary file is Douglas Clark, who also happens to be a constable. Clark has been counseled for rolling a county vehicle, driving 91 mph in a 45-mph zone, using his siren when not on a call, and using red-and-blue lights installed on his personal vehicle to look for something his wife had lost in the road.

CBS 5 Investigates tracked Clark down and asked him if he feels he is above the law.

"I can't answer anything on posse stuff," Clark told us. "I'm forbidden to answer anything with the sheriff's office."

And then there's the accusation from 2007 that a driver backed into Clark's car and then left the scene. Clark allegedly followed the car, rammed the vehicle and held the driver and passenger at gunpoint, all while he was off-duty.

Yet, Clark still remains in the posse.

"Law enforcement can be a long career," said Maricopa County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Trombi. "People do things wrong throughout their career. We discipline them appropriately."

Ironically, it was the sheriff's office that recommended criminal charges against Clark for holding someone at gunpoint. Charges were never filed by the county attorney.

"We didn't turn a blind eye," said Trombi."

With hindsight, Clark's initial campaign for Constable in 2010 also provides some irony.  Clark re-registered as a Democrat to run against the incumbent Constable in the Democratic-leaning precinct.  He then filed an ethics complaint against his opponent, with allegations including poor record-keeping (last night's report notes that Clark is unable to support his claim that he sped on the way to assist other constables).

* Clark may no longer be a Sheriff's Posse member, due to his elected status as Constable, but he could still be involved in the "The Maricopa Sheriff's Cold Case Posse, Inc."

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