GLASTONBURY, Conn. (WTNH) — The arrest warrant for a former police officer, unsealed by the Connecticut Superior Court on Friday, alleges he was a “serial burglar” while employed by the Glastonbury Police Department.
The arrest warrant accuses Patrick Hemingway, 37, of being responsible for 30 or more burglaries in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He allegedly targeted safes and cash registers of restaurant businesses to steal cash. In some cases, police said he used lock-picking tools.
Investigators said they are still working to determine the scale of the alleged burglaries, as they are believed to have occurred in numerous jurisdictions between February 2023 and June 2023.
According to the arrest warrant, investigators used cellphone tower data and surveillance camera footage from numerous burglary scenes to identify Hemingway as a suspect. The suspect allegedly wore a facemask and gloves when he broke into places and drove a black Jeep Cherokee that belonged to his wife.
Surveillance video in Glastonbury and Wethersfield allegedly showed the suspect holding a flashlight in a tactile manner used in police technique, according to investigators. The suspect, described by police as a 6’2″ white man, also allegedly held a coiled, corded object to his left ear. Glastonbury police confirmed the size and shape of the object to be consistent with their department-issued police portable radios, the warrant states.
Hemingway is also accused of using a law enforcement database to obtain vehicle and criminal data to determine if he was being investigated. According to the warrant, in the last three years, Hemingway ran his and his wife’s vehicle registration and his name through the police database unlawfully 80 times, including weeks before he resigned from the police department to allegedly become an airline pilot.
Before transferring to the Glastonbury Police Department, Hemingway was an officer with the New Britain Police Department from August 2009 to January 2019. He resigned from the Glastonbury Police Department on Sept. 1, 2023.
In September, Hemingway was arraigned in Manchester Superior Court on charges of first-degree computer crime and making a false statement.
Sources previously told News 8 that Hemingway was believed to be connected to a widespread burglary investigation across Connecticut and Massachusetts. While the Glastonbury Police Department would not confirm this, on Sept. 20, Lt. Kevin Szydlo released a statement saying they were “alerted to the possibility that a former Glastonbury police officer was a person of interest” in a recent burglary investigation involving multiple jurisdictions.
At his arraignment last month, Judge Sheila Prats said Hemingway would likely face more charges. He is being held on a $1 million bond and is due back in court on Nov. 15.
News 8 has contacted Glastonbury and Wethersfield police to comment on the allegations in the arrest warrant.
