SALEM — A jury on Monday evening found a former Peabody police sergeant guilty of domestic assault and battery, strangulation, and violation of a restraining order after a two-day trial, police said.
Brendan O’Brien was sentenced to 2½ years in prison by Salem District Court Judge Carol-Ann Fraser and will serve 18 months, with the rest of the sentence being suspended for another 18 months.
O’Brien was placed on administrative leave by the department in August 2019 following allegations by his girlfriend and resigned from his position in September 2020.
Chief Tom Griffin said O’Brien’s actions were “inexcusable and unacceptable” for anyone, let alone a member of the police department.
“His behavior is not consistent with the high expectations we hold our officers to,” Griffin said. “Our department strongly condemns any form of domestic violence and works diligently to support victims of those crimes.”
“I would like to thank the officers who worked on this case, the Essex district attorney’s office and the victim who never wavered in this matter and endured the events of that day, as well as several years of court dates, before finally getting justice,” Griffin continued.
A police report filed in District Court said the alleged assault happened on Aug. 24, 2019. The evening began when the couple and two friends dined at Hooters in Saugus, according to the report. Police said the pair, who have been dating for a few years, then returned to O’Brien’s third floor apartment where there was a confrontation.
At 7 p.m. O’Brien was texting another woman and his 34-year-old girlfriend accused him of cheating and lying about it, the 12-page police report said. Police said she took his phone and examined the texts. When she learned the messages between O’Brien and the other woman were of a sexual nature, she threw the phone across the room and told O’Brien the relationship was over before getting up to leave.
At that point, the report said, O’Brien grabbed her by the throat, choked her, told her she was not going anywhere and threw her to the floor.
“Brendan then told her he was not going down for her, retrieved his cell phone and called the police telling them she was trying to kill herself,” the report said.
The officers said O’Brien told them his girlfriend took a large quantity of pills, telling him she wanted to kill herself. Police found pills on the floor, but the girlfriend denied taking any, saying they were thrown in the fight, the officer wrote.
While the woman said she had injuries on her throat and knee, police said they saw only a red mark on the right knee cap, which, she said, happened when pushed to the floor.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
