Former Glastonbury cop charged in burglaries in Wethersfield, Old Saybrook
A former Glastonbury police officer accused of misusing a law enforcement database has been charged with burglaries in Wethersfield and Old Saybrook.
Patrick Hemingway, 37, was served with warrants by police departments in both towns while he was being held in lockup following an appearance Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court, according to the Wethersfield and Old Saybrook Police Departments.
Hemingway faces a burglary charge in connection with a break-in at the Pizza Palace in Old Saybrook on May 8 and charges of third-degree burglary, sixth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal mischief tied to a burglary at the Old Wethersfield Country Store on Feb. 10, police said. The former cop is believed to have fled before taking anything at the shoreline restaurant, while police in Wethersfield said a cash register drawer with $200 inside was reported missing.
Hemingway was expected to appear in Middletown Superior Court Thursday to answer to the Old Saybrook burglary charge and on Friday in New Britain Superior Court in connection with the Wethersfield break-in. He has been held on a $1 million bond since he was arrested as a fugitive in New Jersey and extradited to Connecticut on Sept. 28. Upon being extradited back to the state, he was charged by Connecticut State Police with first-degree computer crimes and making a false statement.
The arrest warrant affidavit authored by state police investigators indicates Hemingway is a suspect in 30 or more burglaries at businesses in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in which the suspect targeted safes and cash registers, stealing cash using a similar M.O.
State police believe Hemingway used his access to COLLECT — a database used by police officers and others in criminal justice that provides access to state and federal law enforcement resources — to determine if any agencies had identified him as a suspect while he was an officer with the Glastonbury Police Department.
Hemingway worked as a police officer in New Britain from 2009 until January 2019, at which point he joined the department in Glastonbury until he submitted a resignation letter in July 2023. The letter, which requested his resignation take effect Sept. 1, cited his 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 were the first agency to suspect Hemingway in a burglary. While investigating the break-in at the Old Wethersfield Country Store, police 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.
State police said Hemingway was later found to have run numerous queries through COLLECT between January 2021 and August of this year checking on vehicles registered to him and his wife as well as his name.
