Police arrest Lynn man for starting brawl in Saugus IHOP lobby

SAUGUS – A Lynn man was arrested early Monday morning after taking a break from some 4 a.m. pancakes to punch another man in the face – while police were watching – at the International House of Pancakes in Saugus.Saugus police took 20-year-old John Richard Everett of 482 Chatham St. into custody just after 4:30 a.m. Monday, when he allegedly began attacking another man in the lobby of the IHOP restaurant on Route 1.He is charged with two counts of assault and battery.According to police reports, officers actually responded to a separate incident between a waitress and a customer who were reportedly scuffling over some lost jewelry.After officers spoke to the two parties involved and were preparing to leave, Everett allegedly began punching a man in the face near the front of the restaurant.As the fight became more violent with the second man returning blows in self-defense, Everett allegedly also punched his victim’s girlfriend in the face as she attempted to break up the two parties.Police quickly stepped in and wrestled with Everett, spraying him with pepper spray before finally getting him to the ground and into custody.According to court papers, his victim was bleeding from the head and losing consciousness on the floor after the fight, and was taken by ambulance to Union Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.Police say the second man will not be charged in the incident, as they believe Everett blindly attacked the man and he was simply acting in self-defense when he began to punch back.Neither the waitress nor the customer involved in the original incident were charged, and it is unknown if Everett’s attack was related to the lost jewelry.His knuckles still cut up from the attack, Everett was arraigned in Lynn District Court Tuesday morning where he was held on $540 cash bail.