Missing Evidence Leads to Suffield Officer's
Arrest, Dismissal
Charges of larceny and
evidence tampering led to the officer being fired and arrested.
A Suffield police officer has
been fired from his position on the force following his arrest on charges of
larceny and evidence tampering.
Suffield
Police arrested officer Jeremy DePietro on May 11 after the
department conducted an internal investigation related to an evidence-tampering
incident and obtained a warrant, according to
the Hartford Courant. DePietro was officially dismissed
during a meeting of the Suffield Police Commission held May 9.
The charges against DePietro
stem from an arrest he participated in on March 3, 2011, when Suffield officers
responding to a medical emergency discovered illegal drugs and cash, $332
according to the Courant. Following the resolution of that case, a court
order called for destruction of the drugs and placement of the money into the
court’s general fund.
The detective asked to
retrieve the money from the department’s evidence room noticed that $120 was
missing from the amount originally recorded. The discrepancy between the
amounts led to an internal investigation, Suffield Police Chief Mike Manzi told
the Courant.
The results of that internal
investigation pointed department officials to DePietro. The arrest warrant was
signed during the week of May 7, the Courant said.
DePietro is officially
charged with larceny in the sixth degree and tampering with evidence. He posted
a $24,000 bond, according to the Courant. DePietro’s arraignment is
scheduled for Tuesday at the Enfield Superior Court.