PEABODY — A Peabody police officer is on leave following his arrest and charge of breaking into a person’s home in Lynn.
James Festa, a 13-year veteran of the Peabody force, was arrested Wednesday morning by Lynn police, according to the Essex District Attorney’s office.
Police were called to a residence at 10:45 a.m. by a person who reported Festa had broken into a home and refused to leave, the district attorney’s office said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Festa, 45, is charged with felony trespassing during the day putting a person in fear, a felony.
He was held without bail overnight after his arraignment Wednesday afternoon in Lynn District Court, where he will return Thursday for a dangerousness hearing.
Festa was placed on administrative leave with pay, and Peabody Chief Tom Griffin has ordered an internal investigation, the statement said.
Before becoming a police officer, Festa worked in Essex County as a bailiff.
