Merrimac Police Department
Eric M. Shears, Chief of Police
16 East Main St.
Merrimac, MA 01860
For Immediate Release
Friday, July 24, 2015
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpre.net
Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 978-769-5193
Email: jessica@jgpr.net
Merrimac Police Arrest New Hampshire Man for Kidnapping, Assault
MERRIMAC – Chief Eric M. Shears reports that the Merrimac Police Department early this morning arrested a New Hampshire man after an incident that took place in the lobby of the Merrimac Police Station.
As a result of an investigation STEVEN H. NICHOLS, AGE 54, OF NORTH HAMPTON, N.H. was arrested and charged with:
- Assault and Battery
- Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon
- Kidnapping
Officers were notified at 2:21 a.m. Friday of an altercation in the police station lobby between a man and a woman. A Merrrimac Police Officer was just clearing a traffic stop and arrived moments later, and he could hear a woman as he approached the station.
Entering the lobby, the officer observed NICHOLS on top of a woman, holding her head against the ground. The officer drew his department issued Taser and ordered the man to get off the woman. The man complied and was detained.
An investigation by the Merrimac Police Department revealed that the two people met earlier in the day and that the man picked the woman up at her home. They drove to Salisbury, where NICHOLS keeps a boat. NICHOLS was driving the woman home when she told police that his behavior suddenly changed, and he allegedly began threatening and assaulting her, grabbing her by the throat. Eventually, they arrived at the Merrimac Police and Fire Station, and surveillance footage shows NICHOLS forcing the woman out of the car and dragging her by the hair into the police station lobby, slamming her head into the floor, just before the officer found him holding her down.
The victim declined medical treatment at the station.
NICHOLS was held on $2,500 cash bail pending his arraignment later today in Newburyport District Court.
The West Newbury and Amesbury Police Departments also responded to assist Merrimac Police.
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