By Luis Fieldman
masslive.com
MILBURY, Mass. — A suspended Massachusetts State Trooper faces criminal charges involving thefts of golf balls and other merchandise totaling more than $1,000 at Target stores throughout 2024.
Zachariah Kent, who graduated from the state police academy in October 2022, was suspended without pay effective Oct. 1, state police confirmed. Kent was named in two criminal cases filed with Worcester District Court on Friday on larceny and shoplifting charges.
Kent, a 30-year-old from Sutton, was caught on video stealing dozens of times from Target stores in Milbury and Worcester using “skip scan,” a scheme described by police as paying for some items at self-checkout but failing to pay for others, according to court documents obtained from Worcester District Court.
State records show Kent was paid $118,777 through Oct. 5.
Stolen merchandise from a Milbury branch of Target between January and September totaled $847, according to an application for a criminal complaint by Sgt. Christopher Polselli of Milbury police.
Police in Milbury were first alerted about the thefts on September 24 when the store’s Loss Prevention team detained Kent and identified him as a suspect in 22 prior shoplifting cases, including one on that day.
The other shoplifting incidents happened at other Target stores, but 11 happened in Milbury in 2024, Polselli wrote.
Surveillance footage captured the shoplifting cases which involved the “skip-scanning” scheme. In one instance at the Milbury store, the stolen goods were worth as little as $24.99. In another, they were worth $218.45. Polselli did not provide details about the type of merchandise reported stolen at the Target in Milbury.
Kent was told by Milbury police he’d receive a summons in the mail to appear in court and authorities charged him with larceny under $1,200 by a single scheme. The criminal charge was filed on Dec. 20 in Worcester District Court .
His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2025.
On Oct. 22, Worcester police were informed by Target employees that Kent was suspected of several shoplifting incidents in Milbury and that he was suspected of thefts at a store on Lincoln Street in Worcester .
According to employees at Target’s Worcester branch, Kent stole golf balls on three separate occasions in April and June, totaling $204.96.
He was charged in this case with three counts of shoplifting by asportation. Both arraignments are set for Feb. 13 . The criminal complaint by Milbury police was filed on Oct. 1 and the one by Worcester police on Oct. 22 .
The criminal charges were filed following a clerk magistrate found probable cause during a hearing last week, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported. The newspaper reported that an initial November court hearing with the clerk magistrate was delayed because Kent was attending a “residential treatment program” in Florida .
“The Massachusetts State Police does not tolerate theft or dishonesty, and we hold our members accountable to the highest professional standards,” the agency said in a statement.
“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,” state police said.
A state police spokesperson said that Kent has no other previous disciplinary history.
Attorney Fernando Figueroa, listed as representing Kent in both cases, did not immediately return a request for comment.
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