Salem Police have arrested a 53-year-old Shattuc man for an attempted aggravated robbery of the front desk clerk at the Salem Holiday Inn.
Police report a man later identified as Christopher Melton entered the lobby of the motel with a big puffy coat and mask around ten Wednesday night. When the clerk came out of the office, Melton is accused of pointing what appeared to be a small firearm through his coat pocket and motioned towards the cash register, but no gun was ever displayed.
The clerk then retreated to the office and slammed the door shut.
Melton then allegedly left the lobby on foot and entered a vehicle.
A motorist stopped by a Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy indicated a black car with a broken back window had turned from Mitchell Street southbound onto Westgate Avenue while traveling without lights at a high rate of speed.
Salem Police later encountered the same vehicle traveling back north and were able to stop the car at West Main and Westgate Avenue. Since drug paraphernalia was allegedly in plain sight, Melton was taken into custody while the investigation continued into the attempted aggravated robbery.
Police say there was no large fluffy coat or other items in the vehicle at the time of the stop, so the canine was dispatched to look for items along Blair Street where police believed Melton had traveled before turning around and coming back into town. About 900 feet into the search, canine Sivka laid down on the suspect jacket that had a pair of gloves laying on top.
Salem Police report the investigation is continuing and video surveillance from along the route Melton traveled will be retrieved today.
Police report Melton was a former employee of the Holiday Inn.
