Accused Lynn bakery bandit indicted

SALEM – A Lynn man who was whacked with a metal bar by a brazen female store clerk after he tried to rob Arnold’s Bakery on Lewis Street last month at knifepoint was indicted Friday afternoon by an Essex County grand jury.Joseph James, 25, of 39 Rockaway St., #2, stands charged with armed assault with intent to rob and assault with a dangerous weapon.Police say on Feb. 28 shortly after 2 p.m., the suspect, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and fingerless gloves, walked into Arnold’s Bakery, located at 76 Lewis St., brandishing a knife while demanding cash from the store clerk.But the very feisty female clerk was not going to let him rob her and fought back, grabbing a 4-foot metal rod, striking the would-be-robber on his right arm, causing him to drop the knife.A customer entered the store just as James picked up the knife he had dropped when he was hit on the arm. James then immediately fled from the store empty-handed towards Phillips Avenue.Police investigating the crime received an anonymous tip reportedly identifying James as the perpetrator.When police questioned James, he denied robbing the store and said the bruise on his arm he had received during a fight with two men.The indictments handed up now move the case from Lynn District Court, where James has pleaded innocent, to Salem Superior Court where he will be re-arraigned within a few weeks.In the meantime, James remains held without bail at the Middleton Jail.He faces up to 20 years in state prison on the armed assault with attempt to rob charge and up to five years in state prison on the assault with a dangerous weapon charge.Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton is assigned to prosecute the case for the state.Also indicted was Eric Bjork, 39, of 11 Foskett Court, #3, Natick, charged with armed robbery and threats to commit a crime stemming from an incident in Saugus on Jan. 4 when he allegedly threatened to kill a man as he stole money from a man at knifepoint.He faces a potential life sentence on the armed robbery charge.