Police: Man assaults Lynn woman after moving in without permission

LYNN – A judge ordered a Salem man held without bail after a woman told police the defendant moved in without permission, beat her and then broke into the apartment Monday morning. Police said the defendant also had an unlicensed gun.”(The defendant) apparently showed up at her apartment three or four days ago with a few bags of clothes and a few boxes of Jordan sneakers,” Lynn Police Officer Joshua Hilton wrote in a report, summarizing the alleged victim’s statement. “When she confronted (the defendant) as to why he appeared to be moving in, he assaulted her.”William Francisco, 26, of 46 Barr St., Salem, was arrested and charged with daytime felony breaking and entering, putting a person in fear; assault and battery; malicious destruction of property +$250; and possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card; at 10:59 a.m. Monday.He appeared Monday afternoon in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.Police units responded at 10:15 a.m. Monday to both the Walgreens on Joyce Street and an apartment on the 400 block of Essex Street on the report of a woman fleeing a domestic incident.Officers at the apartment noted the door had been forced open and heard a male inside. Francisco opened the door with hands raised and was handcuffed for safety, police reported. Police reported an “obvious and overwhelming aroma of unburnt marijuana” diffused throughout the home and coming from a bedroom closet.Inside the closet, police allegedly found a stack of sneaker boxes. The top box contained a small digital scale, sandwich bags and an unloaded 9-millimeter Deutsche Werke handgun, police reported.The alleged victim told police she had known Francisco since childhood, but when she asked him why he was moving in, Francisco allegedly grabbed her by the hair, punched her several times in the face and scratched her, police reported. The alleged victim said Francisco apologized so she did not call police, according to the report.The two allegedly began arguing again earlier that morning, and Francisco allegedly grabbed her around the neck. The alleged victim said she refused to answer Francisco’s knocks on the door when he later returned, police reported. The alleged victim reportedly fled the apartment when she heard a big bang and realized Francisco was inside.Police said the alleged victim was “in shock” when told that a gun was found inside her apartment.Francisco admitted arguing with the alleged victim but denied any physical fight, police reported. Officers also said Francisco told them he had just been released from jail for dealing marijuana and heroin ? meanwhile Francisco’s phone rang approximately 50 times over an hour as officers investigated the incident, booked Francisco and wrote the incident report.”Most of these phone calls had contact names that were preceded by the letter ?Z,’ a tactic used to differentiate between general phone traffic and clientele calls,” police reported. “The ?Z’ callers would repeatedly call over and over again consistent with drug-user behavior.”Essex Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia requested Francisco be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing. Court-appointed defense attorney Ben Richard said his client stipulated to probable cause to be held. Judge Albert Conlon scheduled Francisco to return to court Thursday.