Stoughton Police Help Arrest Man Accused of Stabbing Danvers Officer

Officer John Lydstone was on his way to a traffic detail on Central Street by Harrison Boulevard, but instead ended up assisting in the arrest of a Danvers man who made headlines Friday morning for being accused of stabbing a Danvers police officer and fleeing the scene.

Roy Limbaugh, 58, of Danvers, was arrested Friday at 7:04 a.m. by Massachusetts State Police on Kay Way in Stoughton, on the Stoughton/Randolph line.

Lydstone arrived on scene at the same time as the State Police and assisted in the arrest, according to Executive Officer Robert Devine of the Stoughton Police Department.  

Danvers Police Sergeant Bob Bettencourt told the incident happened at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday. Danvers Patrol Officer John Melto was doing surveillance on Pope Lane in Danvers when Limbaugh confronted Melto.

Melto suffered “multiple wounds to his neck, arm, and hand,” according to Boston.com, but the wounds do not appear life-threatening, Bettencourt told the Globe.

Limbaugh fled from the scene in a red Volkswagen Jetta, Danvers Patch reports, and was found by State Police and Lydstone on the Stoughton/Randolph line about 90 minutes after the attack.

According to the Stoughton Police Department’s Facebook page, “Officer John Lydstone, while on his way to a traffic detail, heard a transmission that the attacker of a Danvers officer was in Stoughton by the Randolph line. He diverted and arrived at the same time as Trooper Cayre of the Massachusetts State Police. The assailant was taken into custody by both officers and held by the State Police.”

Limbaugh will be facing an attempted murder charge, according to the Boston Globe. Limbaugh is a level three sex offender in the state of Massachusetts, after a conviction of assault with rape intent in 1999, and has outstanding warrants, according to Danvers Patch.

Stoughton Police expressed their sympathies for Melto, who the Boston Globe said is hospitalized and is expected to undergo surgery on Friday.

On their Facebook page, they wrote, “the thoughts and prayers of the Stoughton PD go out to the officers of the Danvers Police Department."