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YPD: Man beat, held woman hostage
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Michael Gillespie
VICTIM TELLS OFFICERS ORDEAL LASTED A WEEK
YOUNGSTOWN
A 39-year-old city man is in Mahoning County Jail on a combined $110,000 bond after police say he held a female acquaintance hostage in a North Side home for one week.
Michael Gillespie, of Illinois Avenue, is charged with domestic violence and kidnapping. He was arraigned Thursday before Judge Robert Milich of Youngstown Municipal Court.
Gillespie, who is on parole for a previous crime, told the court he is unemployed and cannot afford an attorney. Judge Milich ordered that an attorney be appointed to represent him.
According to police reports, adult-parole-authority employees went to Gillespie’s Illinois address Tuesday to check on him. The parole officers noticed a woman inside the house visibly shaking with fear.
Police reports say the woman told parole officers and police that she had been beaten by Gillespie, locked inside the apartment and held against her will for a week.
The woman told police she came home and found Gillespie consuming alcohol and slapped him for doing so because he has a drinking problem. She said he stopped drinking after she confronted him and went to sleep for a period of time.
The woman told police that Gillespie woke up, came into another room where she had been sitting and smashed a wooden coffee table on top of her so hard that the table broke into pieces.
She said Gillespie then grabbed her by the hair and began punching her repeatedly in the face and head. She also said he dragged her through the house during the beating.
The woman said the rear door to the home is nailed shut, and Gillespie would hide the keys to the front door while he slept so she could not leave the house. She told police the beating left her in need of medical attention, but Gillespie would not allow her to leave or contact friends and family.
The woman told officers that she managed to call 911 and blurt out the address to the home, but Gillespie took the phone and broke it, choked her and threatened to kill her.
Prosecutors told the court that Gillespie has a lengthy criminal history that includes charges of drug trafficking, drug abuse, criminal mischief, sexual battery, attempted unlawful sexual contact with a minor and a parole violation.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections website shows that Gillespie was sent to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution in August 2008 for attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He had a prison sentence of 18 months and was released on parole in November 2009. He is on parole for three years.
Judge Milich set bond at $10,000 for the domestic-violence charge and $100,000 for the kidnapping charge. The judge also ordered Gillespie to have no contact with the victim and register for electronically monitored house arrest if he should post bond.