ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — An Orchard Park man is facing several charges after police say he allegedly held a woman against her will and then took off when confronted by officers.
Acting on a 911 call Tuesday afternoon from a woman who said her friend was in trouble, police responded to a home on Scherff Road. When they got there, officers saw a female being dragged up a staircase and being restrained by a man. They say the woman had broken off banister spindles in an attempt to keep from being dragged. As officers headed up the stairs to confront the suspect, identified as Joseph Gallagher, 36, he escaped through a second floor window and took off into the woods behind the house.
A search began which included the Town of Hamburg Police Department's K-9 Unit and the Erie County Sheriff Department's Air-One helicopter. Shortly after, he was spotted and caught by a detective in the yard of a home in the area of Chestnut Ridge Road, near Gartman Road.
Police say Gallagher had twice violated two stay away orders of protection barring him from having contact with the victim. He's been charged with Unlawful Imprisonment, Criminal Contempt ad Harassment. He was arraigned in Orchard Park Town Court and taken to the Erie County Holding Center.
The victim was taken to be checked out by medical professionals.
