MANCHESTER, NH – Multiple officers responded to the Econo Lodge, 75 West Hancock St., at 7 a.m. on July 20 for reports of a man armed with a knife holding a woman against her will. The 32 year-old victim called police after she fled the room.
She stated her boyfriend, Joseph Coughlin, 34, of Salisbury, had rented a room for the night, but he became agitated throughout the evening of July 19. He allegedly took her car keys and told her she was not allowed to leave the rented room. He pulled out a folding knife at one point of the night and threatened to kill her if she left the room. She told the officers that she feared for her life and was too scared to move inside of the room, let alone leave the room.
Coughlin allegedly left the room multiple times while retrieving various items from the hotel. She said he brought several random items into the room and seemed to be “losing it.” She said he left the room again in the early morning hours, so she gathered up the courage to escape the room and ran out to the parking lot where she located her vehicle. She called police from inside her vehicle and eventually spoke with one of the officers about her ordeal.
Additional officers located Coughlin outside of the hotel and placed him into custody without incident.
Officers located a folding knife and 10 loose prescription pills (Clonazepam) on him during a search incident to arrest. She felt he may have been high on methamphetamines at the time of the incident and claimed he was supposed to check into a drug rehabilitation center on July 20, 2017.
Instead, he was taken into custody and transported to police headquarters.
Coughlin was charged with criminal restraint, criminal threatening (domestic), possession of controlled drug and convicted felon in possession of a deadly weapon. He is scheduled to appear in the 9th Circuit Court-Manchester on July 21, 2017.
