Massachusetts State Police trooper suspended without pay for allegedly stealing golf balls

Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald on Dec 23, 2024

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BOSTON — A State police trooper has been suspended without pay for allegedly trying to steal golf balls, among other items, the MSP confirmed to the Herald.

Zachariah Kent’s pay is now frozen after he already pulled down $118,777 this year and $123,000 in 2023, according to state payroll records. The trooper was relieved of duty Oct. 1, the state police added.

“The Massachusetts State Police does not tolerate theft or dishonesty, and we hold our members accountable to the highest professional standards,” the State Police said in a statement Monday.

“When these troubling allegations came to our attention, the Department immediately relieved the accused trooper of duty, opened an internal affairs investigation, and suspended him without pay following his duty status hearing. We remain fully committed to cooperating with investigators as we await the result of the criminal process,” the spokesman added.

The 30-year-old second-year trooper from Sutton is accused of shoplifting more than $1,000 worth of merchandise, including golf balls, throughout 2024 from stores in Millbury and Worcester, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The paper first reported the trooper’s arrest using court records.

The paper added Kent was suspected of shoplifting from Target at least 23 times in multiple “jurisdictions.”

Kent is due back in court Feb. 13. His Worcester lawyer, Fernando Figueroa, did not respond to a call left at his office Monday.

The Telegram & Gazette added court records state the trooper is accused of “skip scanning” — where a customer deliberately avoids scanning items at self-checkout to shoplift from a store.

State Police sins

This isn’t the first State Police officer to be called out in 2024.

A Tewksbury trooper was placed on administrative leave after allegedly crashing into another car while driving drunk this past October. Trooper James Doran, 28, was identified as the driver, according to Tewksbury police.

Doran is a member of the 90th Recruit Training Troop, which graduated from the State Police Academy on Oct. 9. He allegedly told police he had a few drinks, refused sobriety tests and had a open Bud Light and half-empty bottle of vodka in the car.

The Worcester DA’s office has also launched an independent investigation into the death of State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia. Delgado-Garcia, 25, died after “a medical crisis suffered” during a boxing training exercise at the New Braintree Academy in September.

The lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case has also lost his pay. Trooper Michael Proctor was suspended without pay following an internal Massachusetts State Police hearing in July.

Proctor’s two-day testimony during the trial led lawyers to reveal personal texts in which the trooper used degrading and explicit language regarding the defendant, leading to widespread criticism of the investigator’s conduct and an internal review by the State Police. Proctor was placed on leave the day the mistrial was declared.

Proctor is still listed as a full-time employee on state payroll records, having earned $100,000 before his pay was cut.

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