SALEM, Mass. — The man found inside the Sea Level Oyster Bar on Pickering Wharf in Salem early Thursday wasn’t there to steal the televisions or cash register. 

Ronald O’Leary was there, police say, to drink. 

O’Leary, 51, of 7 Curtis St., Salem, who was briefly a Salem police officer more than 20 years ago, before building a six-page criminal record, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Salem District Court to charges of breaking and entering and malicious destruction of property.

Police were called by an alarm company shortly after 2 a.m., and went to the Wharf Street restaurant, prosecutor Heidi Sylvanowicz told a judge during O’Leary’s arraignment. 

They immediately noticed that someone had smashed a window next to the front door. 

Inside, they spotted a man with his head on the bar, a drink in front of him. They immediately recognized him, said the prosecutor. 

“He was extremely intoxicated,” said Sylvanowicz. In front of O’Leary were several open bottles of alcohol and an open can of pineapple juice, as well as a drink that he appeared to have made for himself. 

A restaurant manager who arrived in response to the alarm said he’d closed at 12:35 a.m. and made sure the place was empty. 

Then police noticed that one of the patio tables outside was damaged. They surmised that O’Leary used the table to smash the window and gain access. 

Sylvanowicz said O’Leary’s record includes approximately 30 defaults — meaning he missed court dates or failed to pay fines — since 1995. And both Sylvanowicz and Judge Timothy Feeley appeared to agree that alcohol has been an issue throughout the past two decades for O’Leary. 

Lawyer Mark McNally said his client is disabled due to having had knee replacement surgery. When he last worked, the lawyer said, it was as a police officer. 

Feeley set bail at $500, ordering that if O’Leary makes that bail, he’ll be required to submit to random alcohol tests. “You are ordered to abstain from all alcohol,” Feeley told O’Leary. 

Julie Manganis of The Salem News reported this story.