Ex-Glastonbury cop suspected of using law enforcement system to determine if he was burglary suspect

Authorities allege that a former Glastonbury police officer misused his access to a law enforcement database to determine if he was a suspect in a burglary spree.

A former Glastonbury police officer is facing charges in connection with 30 or more burglaries in multiple states and for using his access to a law enforcement database to check if other agencies were investigating him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Patrick Hemingway, 37, is suspected in a series of restaurant burglaries in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in which the suspect targeted safes and cash registers, stealing cash using a similar M.O., according to the affidavit that was unsealed this week.

Hemingway was arrested as a fugitive in New Jersey last month and extradited to Connecticut to face charges of first-degree computer crimes and making a false statement, according to the Connecticut State Police — the lead investigating agency.

Hemingway worked as a police officer in New Britain from 2009 until January 2019, at which point he joined the Glastonbury Police Department before submitting a resignation letter in July 2023. The letter, which requested his resignation take effect Sept. 1, cited Hemingway’s desire to pursue a career in commercial aviation, which he wrote would better suit his skills and allow him more time to spend with his family.

According to the affidavit, Wethersfield police, while investigating a burglary in their town, found that cellphone tower data from the crime matched tower data from a burglary in Shelton. The “common identifier” in the cellphone data had ties to a 2019 Jeep Cherokee registered to Hemingway’s wife, the affidavit said.

Wethersfield police informed the Glastonbury Police Department of these findings in September — after which Glastonbury Lt. Kevin Szydlo released a statement indicating the department was alerted to the possibility that one of its former officers was a person of interest in a recent burglary investigation involving multiple jurisdictions.

According to Hemingway’s arrest warrant affidavit, Connecticut State Police took the lead in the investigation at that point and discovered that Hemingway had made numerous suspicious inquiries using COLLECT, a database used by police officers and others in criminal justice that provides access to state and federal law enforcement resources.

State police wrote that Hemingway ran inquiries into COLLECT using registration information from his Tesla 28 times between January 2021 and August of this year and his Hyundai the same number of times in roughly the same time period. According to the affidavit, he also made inquiries into the law enforcement system checking on his wife’s vehicle 19 times between April 2022 and August of this year and his own name, using his date of birth, five times between February and September 2022.

Investigators in the affidavit allege that Hemingway was likely a serial burglar during his time with the Glastonbury Police Department and that he tried determining if other agencies identified him as a suspect. As of Friday, he had not been charged in any burglaries.

According to the affidavit, authorities are still trying to determine the scope of the alleged criminal conduct, which is suspected to include 30 or more burglaries.

In a number of the burglaries, state police wrote, the suspect wore a face mask and gloves and had a similar physical appearance to Hemingway. The suspect also is believed to have used a black Jeep Cherokee multiple times with a registration plate from another vehicle and, on multiple occasions, used lock picking tools. Police noted in the affidavit that Hemingway left a bag of tools for his former co-workers when he left the Glastonbury Police Department and that a lock picking tool kit was found in the bag.

According to the affidavit, state police also noted that the suspect in one of the burglaries was seen on video surveillance footage holding a flashlight in what was described as a “tactical manner” with an object near his or her ear with a coiled cord that ran down to the suspect’s pocket. The object in the suspect’s pocket appeared to be a similar size and shape to a police officer’s portable radio, the affidavit said.

State police also wrote that the suspect caught on surveillance appeared to spot the camera at one point and could be seen abruptly leaving the room before returning about 30 seconds later. At that point, the suspect “conspicuously” holds up a telephone receiver with a coiled cord not attached to anything in view of the camera, the affidavit said.

“Investigators suspect the burglar hid the radio and its lapel microphone cords into his pocket and replaced the lapel microphone with a corded telephone receiver in his left hand in an effort to confuse police and obscure the fact he was caught on camera holding a lapel microphone to his ear,” state police wrote in the affidavit.

Connecticut State Police and investigators from the Wethersfield and Glastonbury Police Departments carried out a search and seizure warrant on Sept. 13 at Hemingway’s last known address on Stevens Lane in Glastonbury, according to the affidavit. Authorities seized a Jeep Cherokee and spoke to Hemingway’s wife, who told them her husband had moved to New Jersey to pursue his pilot aspirations, the affidavit said.

Inside the Jeep, authorities said they reportedly found a broken handle belonging to a Sentry safe, noting in the affidavit that “safes have recently been stolen by the suspect serial burglar.”

Hemingway has been held on a $1 million bond since he was extradited to Connecticut last month and arraigned in Manchester Superior Court. Judicial records indicate his case has been transferred to the Hartford Judicial District courthouse, where he is scheduled to appear on Nov. 15. Hemingway has not entered a plea to the charges.