On Friday, September 8th, 2023, Troopers from Troop C - Tolland were dispatched to a car dealership in the town of Ellington for the report of a suspected fraudulent purchase of a vehicle. Troopers were then met by the Finance Manager and Title clerk who explained on June 17th, 2023, a vehicle was sold from the facility to a female who they now believed used a fraudulent ID to obtain the vehicle.
The transaction was made via a loan through a national bank; however, two weeks later the dealership was contacted by the bank stating that the female failed to pay the loan. It was also advised by the bank that they tried to contact her for over two months without success. A COLLECT query of the license given to the dealership showed that it was a valid license number, however, the picture was different.
On October 18, 2023, Troopers learned that there had been an arrest in West Virginia, of a female who was found using the same fraudulent ID to withdraw funds from resident in West Virginia. The female was identified as Tracie Tarabek (DOB 03/05/1971) of Groton, CT. Tarabek was arrested for unrelated criminal charges in West Virginia and held on a $50,000 bond.
With this information, an arrest warrant was drafted and applied for through Rockville Superior Court for the arrest of Tarabek. The warrant was granted and signed on
From October 2023, until June of 2024, Tarabek was held in the State of West Virginia until being released from custody, on a court mandated release.
On February 21, 2025, at approximately 6:54 PM, the Groton Police Department contacted Troop C and reported that they had located and placed Tarabek into custody in their town. Tarabek was then turned over to Troop C where she was processed and charged with the following:
C.G.S. 53a-119c - Larceny of a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree
C.G.S. 53a-129b - Identity Theft in the First Degree
C.G.S. 53a-140 - Forgery in the Third Degree.
Tarabek was held on a court set $750,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at Rockville Superior Court on February 24, 2025.
Please see attached arrest warrant application and criminal information summary.
