A Maryland police captain trusted with enforcing the law is now facing felony charges for allegedly cheating the system, skipping work for college classes, and joyriding in her state-issued vehicle, authorities said Friday.
Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III announced that Captain Astarte Hunt, a sworn officer with the Maryland Department of Health Police since 2016 and promoted to captain in 2022, has been charged with two charges of misconduct in office and one count of theft ranging from $1,500 to $25,000.
Prosecutors claim that from January to May 2025, Hunt blatantly cut corners while collecting a state payment. Instead of patrolling or supervising, she was allegedly sitting in classrooms at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, doing courses on the clock and filing timesheets pretending to be on duty.
It did not stop there. According to the charging documents, Hunt also exploited her access to a state-owned vehicle that was intended for official usage exclusively. She allegedly used the government-issued car as her own vehicle, driving it to college, using it on weekends, and building up miles when off duty. When it came time to submit her mileage logs, prosecutors claim she fudged the numbers by fraudulently reporting no weekend use and rolling the odometer totals into Monday entries to hide her tracks.
When authorities discovered anomalies between Hunt’s logs and her actual movements, the scheme fell apart. The state claims the pattern of dishonesty demonstrated a premeditated attempt to steal taxpayer funds while breaking the oath she pledged to maintain.
“ Our office is committed to upholding the law, including holding officers accountable when they abuse the public trust and violate the very laws and regulations they are sworn to enforce,” Howard said in a statement.
The case highlights the Department of Health Police, a small but highly specialized agency in charge of securing state health institutions. Hunt, as captain, was expected to lead by example. Instead, prosecutors claim she used her rank for personal benefit, which may cost her both her badge and her freedom.
Hunt will face charges in court in the following weeks. If convicted, she may face prison time and be forbidden from working in law enforcement again.
Leave a Reply