State police trooper suspended amid charges he stole from Central Mass. Target stores

A second-year state trooper is facing criminal charges after Target caught him shoplifting more than $1,000 worth of merchandise, including golf balls, throughout 2024 from stores in Millbury and Worcester, police say.

Zachariah F. Kent, 30, of Sutton, has been suspended without pay, state police confirmed to the Telegram & Gazette, after police said he was caught on video stealing more than dozen times.

Kent utilized the “skip scan” method – where a person pays for some items at self-checkout, while failing to pay for others – for months undetected, according to documents filed Friday in Central District Court.

He was caught red-handed by Target loss-prevention employees around 10 a.m. on Sept. 24, wrote Millbury police Sgt. Chris Polselli, who responded to the 70 Providence Turnpike store while Kent had been detained.

Loss prevention told Polselli that Kent was suspected of shoplifting from Target at least 23 times in multiple “jurisdictions,” including 11 prior times in Millbury, before being detained.

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