TRENTON -- A New Jersey state trooper has been suspended without pay after an internal investigation found he was pulling over women to ask them out on dates and falsifying police records to cover it up, authorities said. 
 
 Marquice Prather, 37, was arrested Friday on records tampering charges and released without bail, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice, which brought the charges. 
 
 Officials say the State Police Office of Professional Standards began investigating the trooper after several women lodged complaints about his behavior on the road. 
 
 The investigation found "a pattern of pulling over young women between the ages of 20 and 35 and soliciting them to go on a date with him or give him their phone numbers," authorities said in a statement announcing his arrest. 
 
 Prather is accused of turning off his wireless microphone during his encounters with the women and falsely reporting that it had malfunctioned. He is also accused of lying about the gender of motorists he pulled over in State Police computer logs to hide the fact he was targeting young women. 
 
 In addition to the women who came forward to lodge complaints, state authorities say they identified others during the course of their investigation who had been pulled over by Prather and "gave statements outlining similar alleged conduct." 
 
 The trooper faces charges of third-degree tampering with public records and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records. 
 
 Robert Ebberup, an attorney for the trooper, said his client would plead not guilty. 
 
 "We can't comment on the case until more information is available," he told a reporter. 
 
 State payroll records show the trooper joined the statewide force in 2013 and makes an annual salary of $60,749. He is assigned to the division's Holmdel station. 
 
 A State Police spokesman declined to comment on the allegations. 
 
 S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| TRENTON, N.J. — Officials say a New Jersey state trooper repeatedly pulled over female drivers in order to ask them out on dates, and then tried to cover up the pattern of improper stops. 
 
 Marquice Prather, 37, of Linden, New Jersey was arrested Friday on charges of third-degree tampering with public records or information and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records. 
 
 He was suspended without pay and released without bail. 
 
 State police began looking into the three-year veteran after several women complained about his conduct. 
 
 Investigators found that Prather showed a pattern of stopping women between the ages of 20 and 35 to ask them on dates or for their phone numbers, according to prosecutors. 
 
 Investigators said Prather would turn off his wireless microphone during the stops and falsely report it had malfunctioned. They also said he manipulated data to conceal that he was targeting a high number of women drivers. 
 
 Prather’s attorney says he’ll plead not guilty. 
 
 The trooper joined the police force in 2013 and makes an annual salary of $60,749, state payroll records showed. He was assigned to the division’s Holmdel barracks, which patrols the Garden State Parkway. 
 
 Prather faces up to five years in prison if he’s convicted of the top charge.
– Lots of people fall in love at work, but one New Jersey state trooper seemingly took this life goal to the extreme and is now paying the price for it. NJ.com reports that Marquice Prather, 37, was arrested Friday on records tampering charges and suspended without pay after authorities say he'd taken to pulling women over in their cars and asking them out on dates. He's also accused of trying to cover it up so he wouldn't get caught. Per CBS News, the three-year veteran of the force would target women between the ages of 20 and 35 and try to get their phone numbers or get them to go out with him, prosecutors say. Where the cover-up allegations come in: He's accused of falsifying the genders of people he pulled over in police logs so his pattern wouldn't be noticed, as well as of switching off the wireless mic he was wearing and reporting it hadn't been working right. (A fake cop pulled over a real one.)