MASSENA - A 37-year-old Massena man was jailed early Tuesday morning after he threatened his roommate with a hammer during an argument at their Malby Avenue residence.

Massena Village Police charged Skelly A. Crowell, 37, of 50 Malby Ave., Massena, with second-degree menacing after he allegedly threatened Aaron Adams with a hammer following an argument between the two men.

As part of that investigation, police charged Crowell with false personation after he allegedly identified himself to officers as Tracy Crowell and a felony count of failure to register as a sex offender.

Crowell, a Level II sex offender, failed to report that he had moved to Massena in late March. His last known address on the state sex offender registry was 140 Hyde St., Watertown. The charge was elevated to a felony due to Crowell’s March 5 conviction for a misdemenaor charge of failure to register.

He was arraigned by Acting Massena Village Justice James M. Crandall and sent to the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility. The court indicated it couldn’t set bail since Crowell has two prior felony convictions including a second-degree assault count that led to a three-year prison sentence. He was last released from the Bare Hill Correctional Facility in February 2010.

Mr. Adams told police Crowell became upset with him Monday evening when he suggested he suggested he should start looking for work. He said Crowell told him he couldn’t look for work because there was an active warrant for his arrest and suggested he needed to pump his brakes, a phrase the Urban Dictionary website defines as telling someone to slow down when trying to jump to conclusions about someone or something; to slow your role or to caution another concerning any particular matter.

Mr. Adams said Crowell made some of threats at that time that other residents of the home should leave the building. Mr. Adams said he received a phone call from Amanda Robinson a short time later and when he was on the phone with her Crowell came running toward him with a hammer.

He said a call was made to police and then he ran outside followed by Crowell. Mr. Adams told police he had been able to pull Crowell to the ground and throw the hammer away from the two men moments before the first patrol cars arrived on the scene.

Court documents indicated Crowell had initially stayed with Ms. Robinson when he moved to Massena but moved in with her sister, Nicole Snyder, a short time later.

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