BYLINE: ANTHONY DILORENZO, adilorenzo@ctnow.com FOX CT
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Suffield, CT
Jeremy C. DePietro (Town of Suffield / May 18, 2012)
SUFFIELD —— A veteran police officer who was arrested last week on larceny and evidence tampering charges related to evidence missing after a 2011 drug bust has been fired, Chief Mike Manzi said on Thursday.
Jeremy C. DePietro was arrested on Friday by Suffield police following a lengthy investigation that led the department to get a warrant earlier in the week, Manzi said. He was charged with sixth-degree larceny and tampering with evidence, Manzi said.
He was fired as a result of a police commission meeting on May 9, Manzi said.
DePietro posted a $24,000 bond and is due to be arraigned in Superior Court in Enfield on Tuesday. The Hartford State's Attorney's office also involved in the investigation, Manzi said.
"Unfortunately ... this internal investigation resulted in the dismissal of this officer," Manzi said.
DePietro was with the Suffield Police Department for more than six years, and before that he was a police officer in Bridgeport, Manzi said.
The Suffield investigation followed a drug bust on March 3, 2011, at an apartment on Mountain Road. Suffield police responding to a medical call seized illegal narcotics and $332 in cash, and DePietro arrested a suspect, Manzi said.
The evidence seized was tagged and kept in the police department's temporary evidence room, and after the suspect's criminal case is adjudicated on Nov. 2, 2011, the court ordered the narcotics destroyed and the money that was seized returned to go into the court's general fund, Manzi said.
When a detective went to bring the money back, he determined that $120 was missing from the original total, which set off the internal investigation, Manzi said.
The investigation led police to seek an arrest warrant for DePietro that was signed last week and served on Friday.
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