Address:http://www.bouldernews.com/news/local/01aaslt.html Changed:4:36
AM on Tuesday, January 1, 2002
Sugarloaf victim shows restraint
By Pam Regensberg
Camera Staff Writer

Nathan Victor Melikidse – accused of sexually assaulting a young woman
Sunday morning after tying up her parents in their Sugarloaf Road home
- could grow old in prison if convicted.

But he could thank the woman’s father for sparing his life.

Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies moved in and arrested Melikidse at
7:30 a.m. Sunday, about an hour after the father talked the intruder
into untying him so he could get some water.
Officers said the man then called 911 from his mountain home and
whispered that an intruder was holding his family at gunpoint.

As two women ran from the home, deputies entered to find Melikidse with
his hands in the air and the homeowner focusing a loaded shotgun on him.

“He showed remarkable restraint,” Sheriff George Epp said. “He used his
wits in getting the 911 call and getting the necessary information to
the dispatcher.”

A victims’ advocate who comforted the family afterward said the
homeowner is a “peaceable man.”

“It’s hard to believe this is a random act,” advocate Anne Rogers said.
“It’s like something you see on TV, but it doesn’t happen in your home.”

Colorado’s “make my day law” allows the justified use of deadly force to
protect a home or person in that house. But officers said when
confronted with a shotgun, Melikidse surrendered.

Melikidse and his friend, Robert John Foltin, 33, of Avon Lake, Ohio,
remained in the Boulder County Jail on Monday. They face felony charges
for their alleged involvement in a two- to three-day crime spree that
involved at least three burglaries in the area.

Foltin faces possible charges of burglary and conspiracy. Officers found
him passed out in a stolen car that was parked near the Sugarloaf Road
home. He did not enter the home, deputies said.

Melikidse faces 11 felony charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault
and burglary.

In asking for a high bond Monday afternoon, prosecutor John Pickering
said, “This is an extraordinarily dangerous, violent, aggravated crime.
He has everything to gain and nothing to lose by running.”

Boulder County Judge Thomas J. B. Reed set Melikidse’s bail at $500,000
and Foltin’s at $75,000.

According to arrest records, the male homeowner told officers that he
woke about 5:30 a.m. to someone knocking on the door.
When he opened the door, a man with a gun forced him back into the house
and told him to call out to his wife.

The suspect then forced the couple to bind themselves to chairs with
packing tape.

Deputies said Melikidse then yanked a bedroom telephone and hid a
cordless phone in a stack of newspapers. Officers said Melikidse
searched the house and found the daughter in another bedroom, where he
allegedly attacked her, records stated. He then gathered some of the
family’s valuables to steal, sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Barber has said.

Barber said the gun Melikidse allegedly used in the home invasion came
from a house burglarized in Fourmile Canyon. In that case, a 9 mm Ruger
handgun and a pair of rubber boots were stolen. Officers said Melikidse
was wearing the stolen boots when he was arrested.

On Monday, deputies confirmed that a toolbox found in the stolen car was
taken from another home.

Victor Melikidse, who identified himself as Nathan Melikidse’s father,
said his son lacked direction and traveled around. He said he believes
his son could only have committed the crime if he was high on drugs or
alcohol.
Officers said they smelled alcohol on the suspect’s breath.

“It’s sad,” said the Brownsville, Calif., resident. “He’s just wrecked
his life. Maybe prison is the best thing for him. He doesn’t know how to
handle freedom when he has it.

“I just broke to pieces when I heard.”

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