Innocent pleas on drug, battery charges

SALEM – A Lynn man police say was caught with OxyCodone pills after allegedly attacking his girlfriend and stealing her cell phone and her car was ordered to have no contact whatsoever with his accuser while remaining free on $2,500 cash.In Salem Superior Court Wednesday morning, Jamaal Thornton, 28, of 12 Nottingham Court, pleaded innocent to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, shod foot, assault and battery, trafficking over 28 grams of cocaine, larceny of a motor vehicle and larceny in a building.Judge Timothy Q. Feeley agreed to set the same bail amount as previously ordered earlier in Lynn District Court at the joint request of the prosecutor and defense.The charges arise from an incident on Nottingham Court on Jan. 1 when Thornton allegedly got into an argument with his 27-year-old girlfriend.The victim told police she was punched and kicked and that Thornton stole her cell phone and Mercedes.Police Officer Roger Tinkham stopped the suspect at 9:49 p.m. Police said they discovered 77 tablets of OxyCodone on his person during a pat frisk.Thornton is due back in court on May 11 for a pretrial hearing.