DOT Worker Impersonates Public Official: Cops

State police have arrested a Department of Transportation employee who is accused of pretending to be a state official in an email sent to a local newspaper.

Brian Mercure, 52, of Torrington, was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal impersonation.

He has been with the department since 1985 and serves as assistant district engineer in the DOT’s New Haven district and the manager of the Interstate 95 Corridor Q-Bridge project, according to a statement from the Department of Transportation.

Mercure was placed on paid administrative leave, according to the DOT.

The investigation was launched Dec. 4, 2013, when state police received a complaint asking for a criminal investigation into an email that had been sent to the Republican-American newspaper.

State police said the official Mercure was posing as never sent the e-mail and did not authorize Mercure to send it.

Detectives with the State Police Major Crime Division searched Mercure’s home, seized evidence and obtained an arrest warrant Thursday.

He was taken into custody on Thursday at work.

Mercure was released on a $2,500.00 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 at Bantam Superior Court.

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