Old Saybrook police officer charged with computer crime in attempt to contact woman on Instagram

Dec. 15—OLD SAYBROOK — The police department announced Wednesday night that it has charged Patrolman Joshua Zarbo, with third-degree computer crime, a felony, after they say he accessed a state database to obtain a 21-year-old woman's personal information and then contacted her on Instagram.

The police department said the 30-year-old Zarbo, who has been on the force for five years, "illegally accessed the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Teleprocessing (COLLECT) System to obtain vehicle registration information which he then used for his own personal gain." The incident allegedly occurred Nov. 25.

Zarbo, who was released on a $5,000 bond, has been placed on administrative leave with no law enforcement authority. The Class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He also faces administrative discipline by the police department.

"The Old Saybrook Police Department takes our responsibility to ensure that Department employees are adhering to workplace expectations and the law very seriously," said Chief Michael Spera, in a news release announcing Zarbo's arrest. "Old Saybrook citizens must be assured that they can trust their Police Department not only to provide superior traditional and nontraditional law enforcement services every day, but that they can also trust their Police Department to maintain high standards, swiftly address internal matters, and possess the ability to properly police our own."

The department said its administrative investigation is ongoing and the department would not be making any additional comments at this time.

According to the affidavit for his arrest warrant, police said they began an investigation after receiving a complaint from a third party who heard the woman's name broadcast over a police scanner. Shortly after, the woman received a notice on Instagram that she had a new follower, who was determined to be Zarbo.

The affidavit states the incident occurred when Zarbo was working a private duty security job at Walmart on Black Friday but was considered to be on duty and subject to all department regulations.

Police radio transmissions showed Zarbo asking for the license information on a GMC Yukon Denali and receiving it.

When questioned by police, the woman said she had gone to the store with her sister at 5:45 a.m. to buy a television and other items and saw two uniformed officers. She said that as she left she may have looked at one of the officers but they did not speak. Her sister told police she had said "good morning" to Zarbo and another officer on duty at the store and Zarbo had stared at them.

When they came outside the woman's sister said she told Zarbo to have a good day and he responded "you too". As they drove away the woman's sister said she waved at Zarbo. The woman said Zarbo was staring at her sister and "it was the polite thing to do."

The woman said her boss then called to see if she was OK because he had heard from his wife that police had run her license.

The woman said she took a nap and when she woke up she saw she had a new follower on Instagram "Joshnelson9221" who she determined was Zarbo.

The investigation also revealed Zarbo tried to get a police dispatcher to text him the information about the woman instead of broadcasting it over the police radio but the dispatcher refused and said Zarbo had to call it in over the air, which he did.

"Don't make me call over the air," Zarbo texted the dispatcher at one point.

Police said that Zarbo texted the dispatcher "Bro, I'm gaming right now", slang for "attempting to pick up women," which he then followed with the woman's license plate number and a request for information on the Yukon's registered owner.

When questioned by police, Zarbo said the the woman's sister was acting suspiciously when they drove by as she was hunched down and looking at him. So being on security detail, he looked up the driver's name on Facebook and found they had many mutual friends. He contacted her on Instagram because he said he doesn't use Facebook.

Zarbo can also be seen blocking his body worn camera during the incident and told investigators he "regularly removes or blocks his camera when sending private text messages he does not want to be recorded."

Sarbo also told police that because he had completed his "police function," it was "OK" to look up the driver on social media.

"If I really wanted to, you know, keep this hidden, I would have waited until I was on shift in a couple of hours to run it (on his computer) instead of calling it out over the air," he told investigators at one point.