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A former officer of the beleaguered Cayce, South Carolina police department – an agency battling severe attrition amongst its law enforcement ranks – has been criminally charged with misconduct in office by agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Michael Joseph Timo, 34, of Blythewood, S.C. was arrested on Wednesday (June 11, 2025) and booked at the Lexington County detention center on the misconduct charge.
According to a probable cause affidavit accompanying the warrant for his arrest, Timo allegedly “engaged in an improper personal relationship with a woman while on duty.” Specifically, the affidavit alleged that on March 29, 2025, Timo “engaged in sexual acts with the woman in the vicinity of his (police) vehicle while on duty in his (police)-issued uniform in the parking lot of the Cayce Tennis Court Complex.
SLED based its affidavit on “witness statements and the defendant’s own admissions to SLED.”
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SLED’s investigation into Timo was requested by the Cayce police department. His case will be prosecuted by the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Timo is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him.
Timo’s arrest comes at a difficult time for the Cayce police department. Earlier this week, The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier reported that over the last three years “nearly half of the city’s roughly 60-person police department has resigned.” According to our sources, the department shifted its focus from “protection to promotion” following the December 2021 resignation of former police chief Byron Snellgrove, who was tremendously popular among rank-and-file officers.
“It’s Facebook policing,” one veteran law enforcement officer told us. “It’s not protecting and serving.”
Cayce has shuffled through three police chiefs since Snellgrove stepped down, including Chris Cowan – who along with mayor Elise Partin is shouldering much of the blame for the culture change which prompted the mass exodus of law enforcement.
In addition to instability on the police force, Cayce has seen two city managers and a finance director either resign or announce their departure over the last year. FITSNews has conducted several interviews in recent days with sources familiar with the situation in Cayce, so be on the lookout for future reports…
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THE WARRANT…
(SLED)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
It’s not surprising when you put someone like Cowan in charge. I mean he was mentored by Leon “napoleon complex “ Lott. Now he’s running a state funded school that teaches law enforcement leaders woke policing.
The Mayor is ONE vote out of FIVE! Why not hang blame on ALL of Council who voted yes? It takes a majority.