NORTHAMPTON — Police have charged a Bridge Street man with kidnapping and numerous counts related to domestic violence after he allegedly held a woman against her will in two city hotel rooms over the weekend.

Andrew Kaczmarek, 38, was ordered held without the right to bail at his arraignment in Northampton District Court on Tuesday, pending the outcome of a dangerousness hearing set for Thursday.

He is charged with kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (hands/feet), malicious damage to a motor vehicle, two counts of malicious destruction of property valued below $1,200, and eight counts of assault and battery on a family or household member as a subsequent offense.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in state prison. Kaczmarek was convicted of assault and battery on a family or household member in February.

Police reports included in court records show that the incident started on Saturday, when officers responded to a complaint that Kaczmarek was breaking a woman’s car windshield with his fists while she sat in the driver’s seat, but they filed no charges at the victim’s request.

On Monday, a group of friends received a 5 a.m. text message from the same woman, prompting those friends to call police and go to the woman’s home, convinced that she had not written the message herself and could be in danger. While Verizon conducted a search for the phone’s location, officers entered the woman’s apartment and tried to find Kaczmarek by contacting his probation officer, according to court records.

Verizon located the phone near Conz Street and, soon after, the woman’s friends received another message from the phone with a hotel room number. Police responded to the hotel and staff told them that Kaczmarek had rented that room. Officers entered the hotel room and found Kaczmarek and the woman inside.

“I asked (the victim) if she was okay and she replied, ‘I am now,’” one officer wrote in his report. “I asked her if she was in the room willingly to which she stated ‘no.’ I asked her if she had tried to leave at any point to which she stated she had earlier and Kaczmarek ran after her naked and forced her back into the room. At this point Kaczmarek was placed under arrest for kidnapping.”

Police allege that during the ordeal, Kaczmarek “threw hot coffee” in the woman’s face before dragging her to the ground; headbutted her in the face, causing her to fall over; ripped off her tank top, and accused her of planning to “escape.” He was ultimately charged with damaging the woman’s windshield.

Kaczmarek was given a court-appointed attorney and ordered to pay $350 toward the cost, plus a standard counsel fee of $150.

Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.]]>