Worcester Man Arrested After Kidnapping, Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend

Friday, April 20, 2018
GoLocalWorcester News Team

A 39-year-old Worcester man was arrested and charged with assault and battery, assault to murder, three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping after he held his ex-girlfriend hostage inside a Queen Street apartment.

The identity of the arrestee will be withheld due to the comprehensive domestic violence law that the Massachusetts state legislature passed in early August of 2014.

The law shields the names of people who are arrested and charged with domestic violence

The Incident

On Tuesday, April 17 at approximately 7:40 p.m. multiple police units were sent to an apartment on Queen Street for a report of a domestic assault in progress. Officers received information that a 39-year-old Worcester man was holding his ex-girlfriend hostage at knife-point inside the kitchen of the apartment.

Dispatchers notified officers that they received an additional 9-11 call stating that the suspect possibly slashed the victim’s hand. Worcester police trained hostage negotiators were on scene and communicating with the suspect. During the negotiations, the suspect released the victim to police. Officers saw that the woman had bruises on her arms and face. She also had cuts on her arms including a stab wound to her hand. The victim was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

As negotiations continued, the suspect eventually surrendered and was taken into custody.

During the investigation, police learned that the incident began earlier in the day when the two parties were driving in a vehicle together. The suspect assaulted her repeatedly in the vehicle. He would not allow her to exit the vehicle and continually threatened her. The suspect began to drive erratically and hit a telephone pole. The two parties then went to the apartment on Queen Street. At the apartment, the suspect continued to punch and threaten the victim.

There were two other individuals in the apartment at the time of the incident. The two individuals pleaded with the suspect to stop. The suspect proceeded to pick up a knife and was swinging it toward the victim. The other individuals fled from the apartment while the victim was held at knife-point.

Police then arrived on scene.