By Matthew K. Roy
Staff writer
June 29, 2009 12:33 am PEABODY — A Peabody firefighter accused of harassing his neighbors has not returned to work since his arrest earlier this month and is under "administrative review," fire Chief Steve Pasdon said. Ernest Perrone, 60, of 14 Elmwood Circle pleaded not guilty to criminal harassment, assault with a dangerous weapon and threatening to commit a crime after his arrest on June 15. "As of right now, he is not working as a firefighter for the city of Peabody," Pasdon said. Perrone has not been suspended or put on leave by the department. Pasdon described "administrative review" as a mutual agreement reached between him and Perrone that will keep the firefighter off the job until the chief has enough time to investigate the circumstances surrounding his arrest. "I cannot act on facts that I do not have," Pasdon said. The only information Pasdon has about the allegations against Perrone appeared in newspaper articles, he said. Perrone will receive a paycheck from the department until his accrued vacation time is used up. He will not be compensated once the paid days off are depleted, Pasdon said. Perrone could not be reached for comment. Police began receiving reports of harassment last July after neighborhood kids playing with a sprinkler accidentally splashed water on Perrone's truck, according to court documents. Perrone became angry and demanded the children dry the truck and threatened to "blow their (expletive) heads off" if they didn't, the police report said. A day later, Perrone was seen taking pictures of neighbor Dana Schukert's son and other neighborhood children playing on her driveway. When other mothers in the neighborhood caught wind of this and demanded the pictures, Perrone said they could find them on child pornography Web sites, according to court documents. Police have said the pictures were not actually posted on the Internet. Other reports from neighbors alleged that Perrone made derogatory comments to a 28-year-old man and his boyfriend and that he made lewd gestures to children. In April, a neighbor told police Perrone would run his chain saw up and down the fence and, when he caught the attention of Schukert, he would raise the chain saw over his head and mouth the words: "I'm going to cut you both," according to court documents. A neighbor saw what was going on and videotaped part of the incident. Perrone was released on $2,500 bail and is due back in court on July 31. The department could hire an outside investigator to conduct its own inquiry into the allegations against Perrone. Pasdon, however, has not decided on whether to take that step.
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