A budding Internet romance turned violent and resulted in the arrest of a Slidell man this week, accused of holding an Alabama woman against her will, Slidell Police Department officials said.

Police arrested Vasilios D. Pappas, 45, 1427 Lakewood Drive, Tuesday on charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, aggravated battery and second-degree battery. Police spokesman, Capt. Kevin Foltz, said Thursday that Pappas was in the Slidell City Jail awaiting a bond hearing.

A check of Pappas’ record at the St. Tammany Parish Clerk of Court’s Web site showed this is not the first time he has been arrested on similar charges. When he was arrested Tuesday he was out on a $500,000 bond for a July 2005 arrest on charges of three counts of forcible rape, four counts of false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, five counts of aggravated battery and one count of second-degree kidnapping. He is scheduled to go on  trial for these charges on June 2 in Covington.

Pappas

Records also show that Pappas is wanted on similar charges by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in New Hampshire.

According to Foltz, Slidell police received a call Monday from a woman in Alabama who claimed Pappas had allegedly beat her and kept her prisoner in his house from March 8 to March 9. The 27-year-old victim, who lives in Alabama, told police she and Pappas had met on the Internet earlier this year and had been dating since Jan. 8. She came to Slidell to spend the weekend with Pappas.

During her visit, Pappas and the woman got into an argument over their relationship. She claims Pappas made threats to her if she did not change the way she was acting. The victim said she felt ill and wanted to stop the argument, but Pappas continued to berate her, and the argument escalated.  

Then Pappas allegedly took the woman’s purse that contained her keys and cellular phone and locked them in another room in the house.

The woman told police she then went to the bedroom, sat down on the bed and started to cry. Pappas came into the bedroom, she said, and allegedly hit her on the back of the head so hard that she lost consciousness momentarily.

When she recovered, she said Pappas was very angry, and his verbal threats became dangerous. While he was holding a knife on her, Pappas allegedly threatened to kill the woman’s entire family before he killed her. Then Pappas allegedly used a karate-style belt to choke the woman.

The victim said she was finally able to calm Pappas, but he refused to let her leave the house. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, Pappas released the woman, and she quickly left for her Alabama home town.

The woman told police she received medical treatment for her injuries at an Alabama hospital. She did not say what her injuries were when Pappas released her.

Two Slidell detectives went to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Monday to interview the victim at the Tuscaloosa Police Department. When they returned to Slidell, they obtained warrants for Pappas’ arrest.

Pappas was arrested at his residence on Tuesday without incident, Foltz said.