A 53-year-old Salem man was ordered held without bond when making his first appearance in Marion County Court Thursday for attempted aggravated robbery.
Christopher Melton of West Bryan Street was arrested on the charge Wednesday night a short time after he is accused of entering the lobby of the Salem Holiday Inn and indicating he had a weapon in his coat pocket. The robbery was foiled when the clerk went back into the office and slammed the door shut.
After receiving a description of the getaway car, Melton was later located by Salem Police and taken into custody.
In ordering Melton held without bond, Judge Mark Stedelin noted the forcible felony was committed while he was on pretrial release, two witnesses had identified him as the suspect, and he allowed his GPS bracelet to go dead despite court order requiring him to be on GPS monitoring.
A public defender was appointed to present Melton who is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on December 10th.
