Officer accused of misusing computer to get date is fired

— Local officer Joshua Zarbo who was charged in December with misusing the police computer system to seek a date was fired this week.

Zarbo pleaded not guilty to one count of third-degree computer crime after his arrest on Dec. 14, court records show. He has been suspended from the Old Saybrook Police Department since his arrest.

Police commissioners voted unanimously Monday to terminate Zarbo, a video of their meeting shows.

Police Chief Michael Spera did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

Zarbo, a six-year veteran of the department, is accused of misusing his access to the statewide police information system to track down the identity of a woman he encountered while monitoring shoppers on Black Friday, according to a warrant for his arrest.

The 30-year-old Clinton resident asked an emergency dispatcher to check the woman’s license plate to obtain her name and personal information in hopes of securing a date, according to a warrant for his arrest.

He told the dispatcher he was “gaming” for a date when he requested the license plate information, the warrant stated.

The Connecticut On-Line Enforcement Teleprocessing system, known as COLLECT, allows authorities to access vehicle registration information, including the identity and date of birth of a vehicle’s owner. Users are prohibited by law from “misuse or unauthorized dissemination” of COLLECT data, according to the warrant for Zarbo’s arrest.

According to the warrant, Zarbo sent a text message to a dispatcher while working a Black Friday holiday event shift on Nov. 25 at an Old Saybrook Walmart, requesting the woman’s license plate be checked to get her name and personal information.

The dispatcher responded by telling Zarbo he would need to request the information over the radio, the warrant stated.

“Bro, I am gaming right now,” Zarbo responded to the dispatcher, according to the warrant.

Investigators construed Zarbo’s response to mean he was seeking to contact the woman for a date, which would be an improper use of the system, the warrant said.

The dispatcher and Zarbo exchanged quips and crying with laughter smiley face emojis by text before the officer asked over the radio for the woman’s license plate to be checked, the warrant said.

The radio communication, however, unraveled the date-seeking plot when the fire chief’s wife heard the request and recognized the woman’s name, according to the warrant.

The targeted woman was surprised when she was notified police had checked her license plate information, the warrant stated. The woman told investigators she was at Walmart buying a TV and saw two police officers, but she and her sister had little interaction with them, the warrant said.