Lynn man accused of strangling ex then damaging her car

LYNN – A judge ordered a city man held without bail after the man allegedly strangled his ex-girlfriend outside her apartment and returned a month later and allegedly threw a concrete block through her car window.Willie Wallace, 42, of 50 Andrews St. #114, was arrested on two warrants Thursday. He pleaded not guilty later that afternoon in Lynn District Court to charges of assault and battery on a family/household member; and strangulation or suffocation. Wallace also pleaded not guilty to charges of malicious damage to a motor vehicle; and witness intimidation; on a separate case.Police reported responding to outside a Silsbee Street apartment on early Aug. 15 where the alleged victim said her ex-boyfriend Wallace had driven up to her while she was getting out of her car. The alleged victim told police Wallace – with whom she had not lived for about a year – grabbed her around the neck with his hands, squeezed, and asked “?where have you been for so long?'” Lynn Police Officer Russell Gokas wrote in a report.”(The alleged victim) stated that Wallace then asked for $50, claiming that he could always find her,” Gokas reported.Police responded to outside the apartment again on Sept. 11, when the same alleged victim said Wallace had pulled up and begun yelling at her.”(The alleged victim) stated that she watched as Wallace armed himself with a large chunk of cement and threw it through the rear window of her vehicle,” Lynn Police Officer Ralph Sirois Jr. wrote in a report.Essex Assistant District Attorney Katelyn Giliberti requested Wallace be held pending a dangerousness hearing on both cases.Defense attorney Arthur Carakatsane said police made no note of injuries to the alleged victim from the first alleged incident, nor noted finding a chunk of cement in the alleged victim’s car when reporting on the second alleged incident.Moreover, Wallace had received threatening text messages from a number belonging to the alleged victim, Carakatsane said.Judge Joseph Jennings found probable cause to hold Wallace for a dangerousness hearing on both cases.Wallace then asked to speak and requested a restraining order against the alleged victim, who had been granted a restraining order against him. Jennings told Wallace he had to be granted a restraining order by a judge. Jennings noted that the judge on the bench (him) had just ordered Wallace held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Monday.”That’s why the system is whack!” Wallace replied. “Racism in America! Racism!” Wallace shouted as he was led out of the courtroom.A fellow minority defendant in the dock laughed aloud.