A Western Massachusetts man accused of kidnapping a man, trapping him in the basement of a home and trying to kill him earlier this week faces nearly a dozen criminal charges, according to authorities.
Nicholas Lighten and another man got into a fight Thursday evening Lighten’s home at 43 East Housatonic St. in Dalton when Lighten allegedly kidnapped and tried to kill the man, the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Lighten is accused of forcibly bringing the man to the basement of the house, trying to restrain him and shooting him in his upper thigh in an alleged attempt to murder him, according to the statement.
The man drove himself to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, where he was treated for wounds that were not life-threatening and released from the hospital, the statement said.
Law enforcement determined there was no danger to the public Thursday evening, and Lighten was brought into custody roughly two hours after the alleged kidnapping and attack, according to the district attorney’s office. He was held on $500,000 bail at the House of Correction before his arraignment.
Lighten was arraigned Friday in Pittsfield District Court on 10 charges stemming from the alleged kidnapping and attack, including: kidnapping while armed with a firearm; armed assault with intent to murder; carrying a dangerous weapon, brass knuckles; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building; a firearm violation with one prior violent or serious drug crime conviction; possession of a firearm without a Firearm Identification (FID) Card; a subsequent offense of possession of a firearms while committing a felony; possession of ammunition without a FID Card; and possession of a Class B drug, the district attorney’s office said.
He is being held without bail pending a hearing on his dangerousness scheduled for Wednesday. In the alternative, Lighten would be held on $500,000 bail, according to the statement.
