Former Glastonbury police officer suspected in string of commercial burglaries charged in Stratford
A former Glastonbury police officer suspected of committing more than 40 commercial burglaries in multiple states was charged last week in a burglary in Stratford.
Patrick Hemingway, 37, was arrested last Tuesday by the Stratford Police Department and charged with third-degree burglary, fifth-degree larceny and second-degree criminal mischief, according to Judicial Branch records.
The former officer remains held on bonds totaling more than $1 million following his previous arrests by Connecticut State Police and multiple other police departments.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit in the Stratford case, police responded to Biagio’s Osteria at 88 Ryders Lane on April 20, 2023, when an alarm went off at the restaurant in the early morning hours. Officers initially could not find any signs of a burglary and left the scene before the owner called authorities hours later.
The restaurant owner told police he reviewed video surveillance footage and found that a suspect tried breaking into the rear door of the building around 4 a.m., the warrant affidavit said. After the suspect is seen walking out of view of the cameras, a black Jeep Grand Cherokee is seen moving from the rear of the building toward the front.
The suspect can then be seen breaking into the front door before taking money from two cash registers within the restaurant, the warrant affidavit said. The owner reported that about $500 was stolen.
According to the affidavit, Stratford police were able to tie Hemingway to the burglary at Biagio’s Osteria through intelligence shared between multiple other law enforcement agencies investigating him in a burglary spree involving more than 40 businesses in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Last September, Hemingway was arrested as a fugitive in New Jersey. He was extradited back to Connecticut on Sept. 28, 2023, and was charged by Connecticut State Police with first-degree computer crimes and making a false statement.
The arrest warrant affidavit obtained by state police investigators indicates 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 Glastonbury police. Last July, he submitted a resignation letter from the Glastonbury Police Department and requested that his resignation take effect Sept. 1, 2023. In the letter, he 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 a 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 2023, checking on vehicles registered to him and his wife as well as his name.
Hemingway has been arrested on burglary, larceny and other charges by police in Wethersfield, Shelton, Old Saybrook and East Hampton, records show.
