3 accused of executing Oakland County business owner at his workplace

PONTIAC, Mich. – Three men are accused of executing an Oakland County business owner inside his workplace.

The shooting happened Monday (Jan. 13) at 8:17 p.m., when Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said a 911 call was made saying a business partner had found the man potentially dead at their business. on University Drive near Cameron Avenue at Pontiac.

Bouchard said during a news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that deputies arrived, found the man lying face down before beginning their investigation.

He said after it was determined that 66-year-old Sam Simko, of Commerce Township, could not be revived, medical attention was given and he was pronounced dead.

After Simko was pronounced dead, it sparked the investigation.

“I’ve said for a long time that you’re going to see a small number of people committing a large number of crimes, and that’s often what we see and with the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) partnership we target those people. who have committed violent crimes and try to hold them accountable and try to get serious sentences to keep them off the street because we’ve seen the tragic outcome when that doesn’t happen with our murders and other cases where you have seen violent offenders return to a position to hurt other people, including the individual on Christmas Eve who was recently taken out and then killed a woman and shot others on Christmas Eve.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard

–> Oakland County Sheriff Calls for Reforms After Deadly Christmas Eve Shooting

The Pontiac substation that belongs to this case started from ground zero. Bouchard said masked and gloved individuals entered the business and executed the owner.

“They shot him in the head, then chained him up and then put a bag over his head. And definitely a cautionary tale for marijuana businesses, because they’re in the business of two things that are valuable to criminals, both money, which in this particular country they didn’t have, but they often do, like in a dispensary. , so you get money and drugs.”

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard

Bouchard said the people involved took about 50 pounds of marijuana, but they didn’t take any money.

Officials said the forensics team came out with Oakland County detectives and responding deputies, and they worked quickly after the security footage was obtained.

The people involved had a vehicle but no visible license plates, but at least one of them had met the owners at the Hash Bash in Ann Arbor where they talked about some kind of interaction.

“One individual was taken into the building and as he was leaving, others burst in, masked and wearing gloves at the time of the crime,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard said during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, that deputies arrived and found Simko lying face down on the ground before beginning their investigation.

“With their dark license plates and vehicles that were kind of a generic description, but through a lot of investigative work with our partners, they were able to track down the individuals in Ohio in a relatively short amount of time and they were able to they identified potential suspects and were working. with partners in addition to ATF Detroit.”

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard

Bouchard said that ATF Detroit, ATF Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Police Department, the Oakland County Fugitive Task Force, with their substation and the Cincinnati Crime Gun Intelligence Center, and over 50 law enforcement personnel, we are able to track down individuals in Ohio where three suspects are now in custody.

–> 3 men await extradition after arrest in Oakland County businessman’s slaying

The investigation is ongoing, but Bouchard said search warrants have been served at multiple locations in Ohio where they have recovered evidence ranging from three guns, one of which matches a .45-caliber handgun believed to be at the scene of the murder. .

“We have shell casings at the scene and a .45 caliber handgun in custody in Ohio, and that will obviously take the next steps to determine if it’s a match,” Bouchard said.

The suspects involved are William Creasy, Scott Brown and Deonte Prophett, who are all convicted felons.

“We had a terrible crime in the community by offenders, not in this one from this community, who came here with the sole intention of robbing these people and killing them.

They are all convicted felons. They were armed and are detained. We’re going to potentially seek a minor policy waiver on this, which all the state accusers will pursue with federal charges because this type of crime is not acceptable in this community, in the state of Michigan, it’s not in place.

ATF Special Agent in Charge James Deir

Deir said the gun tells the story for them, and they will feed it into their integrated ballistics information network and screen it throughout the Great Lakes region and across the country.

“That’s the part that ATF brings to this partnership. We follow the gun. And we have nationwide resources. And in this case, it worked, you have three suspects who just committed this crime, took massive amounts of marijuana, and went out of state.”

ATF Special Agent in Charge James Deir

Bouchard said the three men have shown compensation for violence, have been caught with firearms and are in a position to hurt people again, and they should be held accountable across the country.

“The family is obviously extremely distraught and they are asking the media not to contact them while they try to process what has happened to their family,” Bouchard said.

All three men are in Ohio, awaiting extradition to Michigan.

Watch Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard’s full press conference below