A man from Lowell has been arrested for allegedly keeping a woman against her will in his booby-trapped apartment for approximately nine hours. Joseph Melchionda, 28, is said to have taken the woman’s cellphone and tried to force her to smoke methamphetamine during the incident, which occurred on November 9th. The victim approached the police station on November 17th to report that Melchionda had been threatening her via text messages. She claimed that he had sent her around 50 messages, including threats to shoot her.
The victim told police that she had first met Melchionda on November 3rd when he came to her law firm seeking legal representation for a landlord-tenant dispute. She visited his apartment on Market Street on the evening of November 9th to gather evidence for the dispute. However, Melchionda allegedly stood in front of the door with what appeared to be a rifle and refused to let her leave. He also allegedly loaded the rifle with small BBs and made her sit in a chair in the dark apartment, at times without her phone.
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The incident ended at 4 a.m. on November 10th when Melchionda allowed the woman to leave. On the same day, police were called to Melchionda’s apartment due to threatening messages he claimed to be receiving. Officers determined that he was experiencing a mental health episode based on his erratic behavior. Melchionda was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation and possible treatment.
During his time at the hospital, Melchionda informed police that he had set up several booby traps in his apartment. The State Police Bomb Squad was called in to investigate and cleared the apartment. Melchionda was later arrested on charges of assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, and threatening to commit a crime.
Melchionda appeared in Lowell District Court on Monday and was held without bail until at least March 15th. He is scheduled to return to court on December 14th for a pretrial hearing. Melchionda has had previous encounters with law enforcement due to his erratic behavior, including a Section 12 incident on November 11th where he was barricaded in his apartment and the SWAT team was called to remove him.
