The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Wife of burglaries suspect ex-Glastonbury cop seeks divorce
Describing it a “fraudulent marriage,” the wife of Patrick Hemingway — the jailed former Glastonbury police officer charged in multiple burglaries around Connecticut and who officials say is suspected in dozens more — is divorcing him and asking him to help pay off their debt, court documents show.
Hayley Hemingway filed for divorce on Dec. 4, 2023, in state Superior Court in New Britain, saying the marriage “has broken down irretrievably and there is no possibility of reconciliation.”
The divorce documents claim that Patrick Hemingway took her pre-marital savings and also cite “adultery, habitual intemperance and intolerable cruelty” as reasons she is seeking a divorce, without elaboration.
Patrick Hemingway, who has been held in pretrial detention, is representing himself in the divorce. Neither he nor Hayley Hemingway’s attorney could be reached for comment.
The two were married on July 7, 2023, in Newport, R.I., the documents state. They don’t have any children.
Rhode Island is one of three states where police say Patrick Hemingway broke into closed businesses, mostly restaurants, late at night and stole cash. He is suspected of committing a total of more than 40 burglaries, according to warrants for his arrest.
As of late last week, he had 18 cases in five state courthouses and was in custody at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers in lieu of $1.8 million bail, state records show. His most recent arrests were by Vernon police in connection with burglaries at a liquor store and restaurant.
According to the documents, Hayley Hemingway was “forced” to leave their Glastonbury home because the house became “part of the criminal investigation.”
Police seized her cellphone for any potential evidence in the case, as well as her car, a Jeep Cherokee, “because the allegations are that the defendant, unknown to the plaintiff, at times used her vehicle in the commission of his alleged crimes,” the documents state.
The Jeep is believed to have been used in every burglary Patrick Hemingway has been charged so far, investigators say. The vehicle, in addition to Patrick Hemingway’s own car, have been impounded, the documents said.
The Jeep will not be released until all of the charges are resolved, the documents state, and Hayley Hemingway has to depend on others to get to her job as a nurse.
In addition to the divorce, Hayley Hemingway also is seeking funds.
She asks that any of Patrick Hemingway’s financial accounts that have not been seized or frozen by a court be “immediately transferred to the plaintiff up to the amount of the joint debt ($100,000) and the present value of the plaintiff ’s vehicle ($21,000), according to the documents.
That’s because, in addition to losing her cellphone and car, “the plaintiff learned that all her premarital savings had been depleted by the defendant after taking control of her investment account,” the documents state.
Also, the two have up to $100,000 in debt from their Newport wedding, “all of which to date, the plaintiff has been forced to pay by depleting her savings, selling her jewelry and with her earnings,” the divorce documents said.
So far, Hayley Hemingway paid more than $84,400 of the marital debt, with about $15,600 left to be paid, the documents stated.
The documents also say Patrick Hemingway has at least $83,500 in retirement and other accounts. Personnel records obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group show that his 2023 salary as a Glastonbury police officer was $98,500. He resigned Sept. 1.
Hayley Hemingway proposes to the court that she retain all of her premarital retirement plans and accounts, and that she be free and clear of any debt her husband incurs, the court documents show.
To avoid having to contribute to any restitution her husband may be ordered to pay, she asks that he “be responsible for all outstanding debts listed on his respective financial affidavit and any other claims, debts, restitution, or other damages asserted by the victims of his alleged crimes,” the documents stated.
If he is not able to transfer enough money to cover the remaining debt, Hayley Hemingway proposes that she sell his two Rolex watches worth an estimated $50,000, according to the documents.
“The plaintiff will retain any excess sale proceeds for these watches to recover some of her financial losses from this fraudulent marriage,” the documents said.