Salem man held on drug, weapons charges

LYNN – A judge ordered a Salem man held without bail on gun charges and revoked his bail on prior charges after a prosecutor said a witness reported hearing gunshots and then a woman yelling at the defendant for almost shooting at her.”(The witness) could hear the female yelling ?you really gonna shoot me with that Glock? You really going to pop off that Glock in front of me?'” Lynn Police Officer Nick Woodbury wrote in a report.Police also said the defendant claimed responsibility for the loaded gun and crack cocaine officers recovered in the woman’s apartment.Joshua Dixon, 23, of 4 Clark Ave., Salem, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute Class B drugs; carrying a loaded firearm without a license; possession of a firearm with a prior violent/drug crime; possession with intent to distribute Class B drugs; and discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a building; at 2:36 a.m. Sunday.He was arraigned on the charges Monday afternoon in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.Police reported responding at 12:57 a.m. Sunday to a Melvin Avenue home on the call of a disturbance with multiple possible gunshots.Officers met with two witnesses outside the home, one of whom was identified as the defendant’s girlfriend and who was “very uncooperative” with police, Essex Assistant District Attorney Katelyn Giliberti told the court. The girlfriend told police there had been no gunshots and initially allowed them to search the apartment. But the girlfriend began yelling at officers when she could not find a key to let police inside, according to police reports. (The girlfriend, Monique Jones, was subsequently arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, according to police.)Police said a witness reported she heard three gunshots – she was sure they were not fireworks – and ran to her window. The witness reported she could see into the backyard of the Melvin Avenue home and saw a female yelling at a light-skinned black male, according to police reports. The witness reported the screaming and yelling continued as everybody in the yard went back inside the third-floor apartment of the Melvin Avenue home.Surrounding the property for a forced entry, police reported seeing a man running down to the basement. Officers reported they later found Dixon hiding behind the hot water tanks. Police also found a loaded gun and 12.6 grams of suspected crack cocaine underneath a mattress inside the third-floor apartment, officers reported.Police said Dixon also “made several incriminating statements” during his phone call at the police station.”Dixon openly stated to an unknown party in front of officers … words to the effect that it was ?his gun’ and ?his Class B,'” Lynn Police Officer Michael White wrote in a report. “These statements were made on a recorded line.”Giliberti requested Dixon be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing when witnesses could testify. Giliberti also requested the Commonwealth be allowed to argue at that hearing that Dixon’s bail on open cases (he has five, according to court records) be revoked.Judge Ellen Flatley said she was ready to revoke Dixon’s bail immediately, citing the defendant’s record of prior similar charges including possession to distribute Class B drugs – a charge in which she said he has been in default since November.Court-appointed Defense Attorney Amy Sixt argued against the bail revocation, noting the drugs and gun were found in an apartment where Dixon did not live. Sixt also said police did not report finding any evidence of an actual shooting: no shell casings, no injured victim, or any DNA or fingerprints on the weapon.Flatley ordered Dixon’s bail be revoked and that he be held for a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Aug. 6.