Peabody man indicted for robbery, impersonating cop

SALEM – A Peabody man accused of robbing three people and then impersonating a police officer has been indicted by an Essex County grand jury.Brandon Francis McCurdy, 28, of 126 Shore Drive, stands charged with three counts of armed robbery, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, attempted larceny of a motor vehicle and impersonating a police officer.The charges arise out of several incidents in Peabody between Nov. 19, 2010 and Nov. 20, 2010.Shortly before midnight on Nov. 19, McCurdy is alleged to have robbed three Peabody residents, a female and two men, outside the 7-Eleven Store on Lowell Street.During two of the incidents, the male victims believe a knife was used. The female was unsure which type of weapon was used to steal money from her as she exited the store.Nearly five hours later, police responded to a disturbance at the Tedeschi’s Market, located on Main Street, on a report that a customer was harassing other customers.When police arrived, they found McCurdy inside the premises. He reportedly had an Essex County sheriff’s badge and was telling people he was an undercover police officer.Police piercing together the information learned that earlier McCurdy allegedly tried to steal a blue Subaru from a man outside the store at knifepoint, but failed and went inside the store pretending to be a police officer.A further investigation linked McCurdy to the robbery of the three people outside the 7-Eleven.Assistant District Attorney Melissa Woodard is assigned to prosecute the case.The indictments handed up Friday afternoon now move the case from Peabody District Court, where McCurdy has pleaded innocent, to Salem Superior Court, where he will be re-arraigned within a few weeks.In the meantime, he remains held in lieu of bail at the Middleton Jail.Indictments are not an indication of guilt, rather is it a legal process that allows a case to be transferred from District Court to Superior Court allowing for a more severe punishment.