A convicted sex offender had a warrant out for his arrest when he gained access to a neighbor’s apartment at 81 Fisherville Road in Concord under false pretenses, beat a man with a hammer and bound him up earlier this month, police said.
Jerry Roberts, 35, was arrested Wednesday at the state prison in Concord, where he is being held on a parole violation for failing to report as a sex offender, police said.
He is facing felony charges of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, criminal threatening with a deadly weapon and criminal liability for the conduct of another as a result of the incident July 15 at the apartment building on Fisherville Road, police said. Roberts is also facing one misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.
Police say Roberts and a juvenile entered the apartment of a neighbor they barely knew. Once inside, Roberts bound and assaulted the man before he was able to escape the attack by jumping out of a bedroom window.
The victim was transported to Concord Hospital that night while Concord police remained behind to interview neighbors and witnesses and to execute a search warrant to collect evidence. The victim was treated and released.
According to the state’s sex offender registry, Roberts was paroled in September 2018.
His criminal record in the state is extensive and includes convictions in Belknap County in 2008 for aggravated felonious sexual assault of a child under the age of 16, in addition to sexual assault in 2004 in Rockingham County. In the past 15 years, he has also been convicted of domestic violence, stalking, reckless conduct, witness tampering, second-degree assault, simple assault, possession of a controlled drug and violating his parole.
This is also not the first time authorities say Roberts has failed to report as a registered sex offender. He was previously convicted of the crime in Grafton County in June 2017.
Roberts will be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.