PEABODY, Mass. (AP) – A Salem police sergeant was released on personal recognizance on Wednesday after pleading innocent to harassing a judge and his family over a two-year period.

Sgt. David H. Connelly, 42, of Lynnfield was ordered by a judge to stay away from the alleged victims of the harassment, surrender his guns to police and to refrain from using alcohol.

Connelly was also suspended without pay by the Salem Police Department while his conduct is investigated. Connelly will also voluntarily seek treatment for alcohol and anger management issues, his lawyer said.

Connelly’s grudge against Superior Court Judge Howard J. Whitehead goes back to October 2001, prosecutors said. Connelly had finished second on a civil service exam, but claimed that the person who finished first was not eligible to take the exam. He appealed to Superior Court, and Whitehead denied the appeal, prosecutors said.

Soon after, Connelly allegedly started throwing beer cans and bottles on Whitehead’s driveway, and did so 89 times over two years, prosecutors said. Connelly and Whitehead live about a half-mile apart.

Connelly was arrested on Wednesday as a result of video surveillance evidence.

Connelly faces a maximum of 21/2 years in jail if convicted.

AP-ES-01-07-04 1758EST