Former South Orange Detective Sentenced for Theft

Former South Orange Police Officer Patrick Zazzaro has been sentenced to three years probation for stealing $1,900 from the police department's evidence vault. Sentencing was pronounced Sept. 21 by Essex County Superior Court Judge Robert Gardner.

Zazzaro, 41, of Flanders, an 18-year veteran with the police department, was arrested Dec. 5, 2008.  Zazzaro, a detective sergeant, was charged with second degree official misconduct and third degree theft. He was released on his own recognizance.

According to Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow, the South Orange Police Department conducted a routine inventory of the evidence vault and discovered the funds missing. The $1,900 had been earmarked for the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education after police had received the cash payment in an envelope from an anonymous source following a recent vandalism of a South Orange school. 

The matter was immediately brought to the attention of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Professional Standards Bureau and the South Orange Police Internal Affairs Unit and a joint investigation was launched. Detectives developed information that Zazzaro allegedly took the money to meet a personal debt that he owed. 

According to Paul M. Loriquet, spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, “Zazzaro claimed he used the money to pay for his father’s funeral expenses."

In addition to probation, Zazzaro was also ordered to serve 50 hours of community service and is forever barred from public employment in N.J.