Lynn armed robbery victim speaks out

LYNN – A 14-year-old Lynn teen had just finished shoveling area homes to make some extra cash when a man wielding a machete came up behind him and demanded the $54.”I had just finished the last house and right away he was behind me. He grabbed me and put the machete against my chest and said ‘give me your money or I’ll stab you.’ I was really scared. I thought I was going to faint,” explained the 14 year old.The teen, who The Daily Item is not identifying because his attacker is still on the loose, recalled the incident that occurred as he walked home from the Highlands on Thursday around 12:30 p.m.Luckily, the 14 year old didn’t put up a fight, handing over his hard-earned money to the thief, who then quickly fled.”I was told before that if something like that ever happened to just give them the money. It’s not worth losing your life for $40 or $50 dollars,” he said during an interview at his home Friday.The teen’s mother said she was outside shoveling when her son came running down the street crying and screaming that he had just been robbed.”He had been out since 8 a.m. When there’s a storm, he’s the first one up to shovel, just to have a little money in his pocket,” she said. “He’s traumatized. I’m just glad that he’s fine and my younger son wasn’t with him.”The teen had planned to use some of the money to bring his 8-year-old brother out for lunch.”I promised him every time I have money, I’ll bring him out. He was bummed out because I didn’t have the money.”Two of the teen’s uncles are outraged over the incident.”There’s kids out robbing people and here’s a kid just trying to make an honest buck,” said J.R., one of his uncles.In addition to notifying the police, another uncle who was visiting at the time said he rushed back to the scene to see if he could find his nephew’s attacker.”You’re not going to jump my nephew and get away with it,” explained Henry. “In my whole 36 years living here, I’ve never gotten jumped.”The family moved from the Common area in Lynn to what they presumed to be a safer part of the city after a shooting near the Common several years ago.The teen said he will continue to shovel for money, but will make sure to stay closer to his house.”I hope he (the thief) goes to jail and no one else gets hurt,” the eighth-grader said. “It’s sad, how could he do that?”But a number of people from Lynn and surrounding communities have already come forward with plans to reimburse Josh.Cindy Cavallaro of Swampscott said she had just been on Facebook joking with her friends about how their kids won’t get off their phones and iPods to shovel when she heard about the Lynn teen.She then called the Lynn police to tell them that she wanted to give the teen the $54 that was taken from him.”I went back on Facebook and made a post about what happened and now my friends from all over the place are sending money. It touched a lot of people,” said Cavallaro. “I just want this poor boy to know that kindness knows no barriers. Just because of this one crazy person, he shouldn’t view life any differently.”The robber is described as a male in his early 20s with dark skin, a full face and a short, neat beard. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a red Adidas sweater, which he dumped at the scene, and a black hooded sweatshirt.Lynn Police Lt. William Sharpe said detectives are actively investigating the case, but no specific suspects have been identified as of yet.