Mass. audit finds police wrongly checking criminal records of Brady, Damon, other celebrities

Audit: Mass. celebrity records improperly checked

BOSTON — Call it a different kind of star search.

A new audit finds Masschusetts law enforcement officials have conducted hundreds of criminal record searches on local celebrities such as Tom Brady and Matt Damon.

The report doesn’t identify the celebrities by name. But a state official briefed on the findings says Brady was the celebrity whose information the report says was checked 968 times. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns, says others who were checked include singer James Taylor and Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce.

State Criminal Systems History Board Director Curtis Wood says agencies know who ran the checks, and anyone who conducted an illegitimate check on a celebrity will be punished.