SALEM — A Salem man was ordered held without bail yesterday following his arraignment on charges that he waved a knife at his former girlfriend, cutting her face, before plunging the weapon into her mattress.
Julio Romero, 30, of 47 Leavitt St. was arrested just before 4 a.m. Sunday following a brief foot chase by police, who had arrived at the apartment in response to a 911 call in which the caller hung up.
When police arrived, they found Romero’s former girlfriend with a cut on her nose and a bump on her forehead. She told officers that Romero, with whom she had broken up a day earlier, had threatened to kill her.
The woman said that she had allowed Romero to stay in the apartment until he could find a new place to live. She and one of her children were sleeping in the bedroom when Romero entered, grabbed her by the hair and slammed her to the floor, she said.
She told police that Romero grabbed a knife and held it to her before stabbing it into the bed.
Romero pleaded not guilty to charges of domestic assault and battery, domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, threats, and witness intimidation.
Prosecutors asked Salem District Court Judge Matthew Machera to hold Romero without bail as a dangerous person. The judge scheduled a hearing on that request for Jan. 22 and ordered that Romero remain in custody at Middleton Jail until then.
The judge also granted a restraining order to Romero’s former girlfriend, barring him from any contact with her or her children.
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