Former chief groped officers, report says

Complaints allege vulgar conduct in Weymouth

Weymouth's former police chief faced complaints that he groped women at a Christmas party, made sexually suggestive comments to a female employee, and played the Jimmy Buffett song "Why Don't We Get Drunk" over the Police Department intercom system, according to an investigative report released by town officials this week.

Former Weymouth police chief James E. Thomas, 60, was placed on paid administrative leave in July and resigned last week, after an internal investigation that took nearly four months to complete.

Thomas could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The inquiry was launched July 15 after town officials received a complaint about the chief's behavior. Town officials hired Ed Johnson & Associates, Inc., a private investigation firm based in Methuen, to interview more than a dozen employees of the Police Department, and they tapped the law firm Kopelman & Paige to oversee the investigation.

According to a three-page summary of the investigation, Thomas, a 34-year veteran of the force, faced four allegations of misconduct that took place between 2004 and 2008.

In one incident, Thomas allegedly put two Hostess Sno Balls snack cakes together on a plate and presented them to a female police employee. According to the report prepared by investigator Edward Johnson, witnesses said the cakes "seemed to represent female breasts." Later that day, Thomas allegedly announced over the intercom that the same employee would celebrate her birthday by "pole dancing at Alex's," referring to a strip club in Stoughton, "and would be buying the drinks," according to the report. Johnson concluded that "there is enough evidence to believe that the chief acted inappropriately toward this female employee in particular and as the chief of police in general."

Those interviewed about that incident also said that the chief sometimes played songs such as "Why Don't We Get Drunk" while making announcements over the intercom on Friday afternoons.

In the second incident, which took place in February, an employee reported seeing damage on Thomas's cruiser when the chief arrived at work at 6 a.m., but accident reports stated that the damage occurred later in the day, according to Johnson.

The third alleged incident took place in September 2007, when, according to an employee, Thomas appeared to have been driving his cruiser after he had been drinking, the report said. A Police Department employee said the chief pulled a motorist over, called in the wrong license plate number, and appeared to be slurring his words, according to the investigators.

The employee went on to say that the chief's voice "sounded similar to when he would call the station late at night asking for a phone call to be placed to his cellphone as he had misplaced it during the night," according to the report.

The fourth allegation dated to December 2004, when Thomas attended a Christmas party and allegedly groped four women, some of whom were officers, according to the report. "One female told us that he grabbed her entire buttock cheek in his hand and then just smiled," Johnson states in the report.

When asked whether he had touched these four women, Thomas said, "No, not that I recall," according to the report.

"No complaints of this behavior were made prior to our delving into this matter, due to possible repercussions or fallout which would have occurred as a result of reporting this behavior," Johnson wrote in the report. ". . . We believe that these allegations are true and that the chief did inappropriately touch at least four females." A representative of Mayor Susan M. Kay's office said the mayor declined to comment on the report.

The reasons behind the chief's leave had been a source of speculation for months. Even officials on the Town Council were not privy to much information, said Town Council President Michael Smart.

"We were kept in the dark, and I guess for good reason," Smart said. "I think the mayor handled this properly. You don't want to damage anyone's reputation based on rumors and allegations."

Thomas, who was named acting chief in June 2003 and officially appointed chief in February 2004, made an annual salary of $144,038, according to Weymouth's Human Resources Department.

Thomas submitted his resignation last week and requested that his retirement be effective Nov. 5.

He did not receive a severance package, but he is eligible to receive his unused vacation time and up to $5,000 in unused sick leave pay, said David C. Jenkins, a lawyer with Kopelman & Paige.

Thomas is eligible for a pension at 80 percent of his pay, Jenkins said. The town has no plans for further action.

"As far as the town is concerned, the matter with the chief is over," Jenkins said.

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.