Ex-Connecticut police officer suspected of burglaries in 3 states

A former Connecticut police officer is suspected of being a serial burglar and committing 30 or more thefts in three states, including the community he had patrolled until recently.

A newly unsealed warrant says former Glastonbury Police Officer Patrick Hemingway is believed to have targeted safes and cash registers at restaurants and businesses in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The warrant, cited in multiple news reports and released Thursday, says surveillance videos show a suspect possibly resembling the former officer.

Hemingway, 37, was charged last month with computer crimes and making a false statement. A judge at his arraignment said more charges were expected.

In one surveillance video, a tall male wearing a mask, gloves and a hooded sweatshirt is seen holding a flashlight “in a tactical manner.” The suspect is also holding “a coiled, corded object to his left ear” that resembles the portable police radios used by the Glastonbury Police Department, the warrant said.

“Lock-picking tools” were used in some of the burglaries, according to the warrant. Hemingway left behind a bag that included a lock-picking tool kit when he resigned Sept. 1 from the Glastonbury Police Department, the warrant said. Cell phone data and images of a vehicle resembling one owned by Hemingway’s wife and spotted at multiple break-ins are also cited in the warrant.