Level 3 sex offender indicted for stabbing cop

SALEM – An Essex County grand jury reviewing cases Wednesday handed up indictments against a Level 3 sex offender charged with stabbing a Danvers patrolman last month.Roy Limbaugh, 58, of 37 Popes Lane, Danvers, is charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, failure to register as a sex offender, subsequent offense, assault and battery on a public employee, resisting arrest, operating a motor vehicle after suspension of his license, subsequent offense, and operating a motor vehicle after suspension of his license.The charges arise out of an incident in Danvers on Aug. 19, when Danvers Police Officer John Melto, a nine-year veteran of the force, was stabbed as he tried to arrest Limbaugh on motor vehicle warrants and reportedly for lying to police where he was working.Melto, 47, had been watching a mobile home on Popes Lane when a red Jetta Volkswagen pulled up with Limbaugh at the wheel at around 5 a.m. Limbaugh allegedly got out, confronted the officer and suddenly swung his arm, slashing Melto between the ear and neck. When Melto tried to shield his face, Limbaugh slashed the officer?s arm.Melto suffered four cuts to his neck and a cut on his hand, according to reports.Somehow the officer managed to pepper spray Limbaugh who jumped back into the Jetta and took off. Melto got back into his cruiser and radioed for help.Earlier Melto had knocked at the mobile homes and a male voice inside said he wasn?t Limbaugh and to go away from the property.Limbaugh was arrested about 90 minutes after the assault by Stoughton police on Route 24.Melto underwent surgery for his injuries that day at Salem Hospital and was released two days later.Prior to the incident, police had been looking for Limbaugh for more than two weeks as they tried to serve him.The indictments handed up now move the case from Salem District Court, where Limbaugh has pleaded innocent, to Salem Superior Court. He will be re-arraigned within a few weeks.In the meantime, Limbaugh is held at the Middleton Jail on $1 million bail.Assistant District Attorney Gerald P. Shea is prosecuting the case.Indictments are not an indication of guilt, rather it is a legal process that allows a case to be transferred from District Court to Superior Court allowing for a more severe punishment.