Swampscott cop was on duty during probe

SWAMPSCOTT – While he was under investigation by the Drug Enforcement agency and local police, Officer Thomas Wrenn was performing his regular duties as a police officer.Police Chief Ronald Madigan confirmed Wrenn, who has been with the department for 10 years and was arrested last week by the DEA, was not put on desk duty or pulled off the streets during the investigation, which got underway in 2007.”While he was under investigation he was not removed from duty based on the fact that we did not have enough evidence to substantiate the allegations that were made,” Madigan said.Madigan did say a criminal investigation and an internal investigation are being conducted, but he declined to comment on whether any arrests or investigations Wrenn was involved in were compromised.”I cannot comment on ongoing investigations or personnel matters,” he said.Wrenn, 37, of 17 Prospect St., Nahant was arrested March 13 in Lynn by the Drug Enforcement Agency and was charged in a criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone.On March 16, Wrenn was suspended for five working days without pay by Madigan and placed on unpaid administrative leave. Tuesday evening, the Board of Selectmen voted to hold a disciplinary hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, to consider additional action against Wrenn “up to and including termination.”The criminal complaint against Wrenn, which was filed in federal court on March 13, alleges Wrenn purchased Percocet pills, which are a form of oxycodone, over a period of months beginning in the fall of 2006.According to the affidavit, Wrenn allegedly routinely consumed Percocet pills and cocaine and, in some instances, he did so while in uniform.According to the affidavit from DEA Special Agent Dennis A. Barton, allegations of Wrenn’s drug use and distribution first came to light in January 2007 when a confidential informant reported Wrenn’s drug habits to the Swampscott Police Department.According to the affidavit, Madigan confronted Wrenn a few days after being contacted by the informant and asked him to submit to a drug test “in order to dispel the allegation,” but Wrenn refused to take a drug test.During a U.S. District Court hearing in Boston on March 14, Wrenn pleaded not guilty and was released on a $15,000 bond. He was also ordered to surrender his passport and weapons. He is also required to submit to random drug testing and he was ordered not to leave eastern Massachusetts or sail more than a mile offshore. He was also instructed not to have any contact with any witnesses in the case.