Waterford — A retired New London police officer is in jail following a series of events that allegedly involved hidden cameras, graphic text messages and a slashed tire.

Waterford police on Dec. 22 charged Chad Stringer, 41, of 10 Tyler Place, Quaker Hill, with third-degree criminal mischief and three counts of criminal violation of a protective order.

Police on Dec. 24 charged Stringer, who was unable to post a $50,000 cash bond stemming from the Dec. 22 charges, with disseminating voyeuristic material, criminal violation of a protective order and second-degree harassment.

According to three arrest warrant applications, the incidents, all of which involve a woman who recently became Stringer's ex-wife, happened throughout December and began on its first day.

On Dec. 13, the first application begins, a woman walked in to the Waterford Police Department's lobby to report a violation of a protective order.

According to the application, she told police she'd received three emails from an email address containing the name "Kiva" that she said she knows is Stringer's.

Stringer — who was an officer with the New London Police Department for more than 12 years before being granted a service-connected disability retirement in 2009 — was partners with K-9 Kiva, who served the department for several years before retiring in 2008.

New London Police Deputy Chief Peter Reichard, reached by phone Thursday evening, declined to comment, explaining that Stringer's charges don't involve the New London department.

In the first email, which the victim said came in at 4:41 p.m. on Dec. 1 with the word "kids" in the subject line, Stringer allegedly apologized for the past, asked to resume contact with his ex-wife and asked to see his kids more frequently.

The number of children involved is not specified in the application.

In a second email, received by the victim almost 30 minutes after the first, Stringer allegedly left a new phone number at which his ex-wife could reach him.

She told police she received a third email from the same address on Dec. 3, in which the author again pleaded with her to communicate with him so they could begin "co-parenting."

The victim, who said she didn't respond to any of the emails, forwarded all three of them to police, police said. She did, however, text Stringer's father, asking him to tell Stringer that she would call the police if he didn't stop contacting her.

On Dec. 13, Stringer's ex-wife told police that Stringer had not tried to contact her since the Dec. 3 email.

According to the application, Stringer was served on June 16 with an order of protection that lists his ex-wife as the protected party. The order specifically prohibits Stringer from contacting his ex-wife and any others "with whom the contact would be likely to cause annoyance or alarm to the protected person."

State Judicial Branch records show that Stringer's ex-wife first filed for divorce in September of last year, with the divorce becoming official in April.

She wasn't intending on going to police with the emails, she told them during the Dec. 13 visit, until another incident happened on Dec. 10.

On Dec. 10, according to a second arrest warrant application, the victim said her current boyfriend received seven text messages on his phone, all of which were sent using anonymous text messaging websites and applications.

In the texts, she said, were various photos of her engaged in sexual activity with a man whose face was not shown, but whose penis was.

She told police she is "100 percent sure" the man in the photos is Stringer.

According to the application, the victim told police that, unbeknownst to her, Stringer had hidden cameras in their bedroom while they were married and had taken nude photos of them engaged in sexual activity.

She said Stringer, whom she said she never gave consent to take or distribute such pictures, sent her a similar picture message when she filed for divorce, accompanied by words along the lines of "this is a glimpse of what I have."

She also alleged that Stringer has threatened to post the photos online in the past.

The victim wasn't able to pass the message sent to her along to police — she said she was disgusted by it and erased it from her phone — but she did provide police with a CD containing copies of the texts and photos her boyfriend received.

Ultimately, the emails Stringer allegedly sent resulted in two of Stringer's Dec. 22 protective order violation charges, and the Dec. 10 text messages the victim's boyfriend received led to all of Stringer's Dec. 24 charges.

Before those two arrest warrant applications were completed, though, Waterford police responded to another incident involving Stringer's ex-wife, this time on Dec. 18.

Around 2:45 p.m. that day, a third arrest warrant application details, a Waterford police officer went to the Target at 900 Hartford Turnpike, where the victim said her rear, passenger side tire appeared to have been punctured during the about 30 minutes she'd spent shopping.

According to the application, another officer said he'd seen and spoken with the victim's ex-husband at the Henny Penny near Target shortly after 2 p.m. the same day.

Using surveillance video from Target, the investigating officer pinpointed a man with a red jacket who was driving a bright blue SUV as the suspect in the tire slashing.

According to the application, the officer who saw Stringer around 2 p.m. later confirmed that Stringer was wearing a red hooded jacket and driving a bright blue SUV. Police said surveillance video Henny Penny provided on the evening of Dec. 18 corroborated the officer's story.

Police said they were able to track the vehicle by its plates and found that it was a lease, rented to Stringer.

The victim, who said her ex-husband knew it'd been her habit "for some time" to go shopping at Target on Friday afternoons, said her boyfriend received one final unwelcome text around 7:19 p.m. Dec. 18, this time from a number neither of them knew. It included one word: "tire."

The incident resulted in Stringer's other Dec. 22 criminal violation of a protective order charge as well as the third-degree criminal mischief charge.

According to state Judicial Branch records, Stringer has two other pending cases. One — with charges including second-degree breach of peace, criminal violation of a restraining order and fourth-degree criminal mischief — is out of Troop K, and the other — for first-degree violation of conditions of release — is out of Waterford.

The arrests occurred on May 22 and May 25, respectively. Details about the cases weren't immediately available.

Stringer is being held at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center. He's scheduled to appear at New London Superior Court for the recent Waterford-based charges Jan. 14 at 10 a.m.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle