Vermont man held without bail after allegedly violating restraining order

LYNN – A judge ordered a Vermont man held without bail pending trial for allegedly violating a restraining order after the defendant’s ex-girlfriend testified the man progressed from throwing things at her to repeatedly strangling her.Nathan Graves, 22, of 128 Rock Road, East Montpelier, Vt., was arrested and charged with violation of an abuse-prevention order; and trespassing.He was arraigned on the charges Monday in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. Essex Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia requested Graves be held pending a dangerousness hearing later that afternoon.Marblehead Police responded to an Atlantic Avenue home at approximately 12:21 a.m. Saturday on the report of a man, later identified as Graves, yelling out the alleged victim’s name, according to a report by Marblehead Police Officer Timothy Morley. Police reported they learned Graves had an active restraining order with the alleged victim and a no-trespass order in effect for the property, and arrested the defendant.In applying for the restraining order and in testimony at the dangerousness hearing, the alleged victim said Graves has received no-trespass orders from her school and her landlords, had repeatedly tried calling her and had pushed, choked, punched and verbally abused her in the past. The alleged victim also referenced emails where the defendant suggested she not be home on the night of April 4 if she didn’t want to see him, and warned her “I am going to have a lot of trespassing violations soon,” according to court documents.The alleged victim also said Graves tried to push her down concrete stairs, choked her once while they were in a mall and once while in an alley “until I had enough,” and had punched her across the face when they would fight during a trip to China.Bellavia requested Graves be found dangerous and held until trial due to the “escalation of abuse.””He’s trespassed from the house, that doesn’t stop him; the victim gets a restraining order, that doesn’t stop him,” Bellavia said.But defense attorney Todd Siegel said Graves had no record, went willingly with police and his client was not charged with assault.”In the end what we have is a violation of a restraining order,” Siegel said. “There were allegations of a bunch of things, but he wasn’t charged with that and it doesn’t appear that those allegations would have occurred in this jurisdiction.”Judge James Wexler found Graves dangerous and said no conditions of release would ensure the alleged victim’s safety from Graves’ “inexplicable” behavior.Wexler ordered Graves held pending trial and scheduled him to return to court May 2.