Lynn man pleads innocent to armed robbery; remains held on $20G bail

SALEM – Bail for a Lynn man who intended to plead guilty to weapon and ammunition possession charges, but instead got arrested for allegedly snatching $350 at knifepoint from a neighborhood convenience store, remains at $20,000.Matthew David Griggs, 20, of 248 Lynnfield St., appeared Friday in Salem Superior Court, pleading innocent to a charge of masked armed robbery.Judge Timothy Q. Feeley agreed to set the $20,000 cash bail at the joint recommendation of the prosecutor and defense with the option that the defense may be allowed to seek a bail review at another court date.In the meantime, Griggs remains held at the Middleton Jail in lieu of bail.This newest charge arises out of an incident on the afternoon of March 6 when Griggs apparently walked into the Lynnfield Street Market, located at 263 Lynnfield St. in Lynn, wearing a mask that partly covered his face and brandishing a large hunting knife. He quickly ran behind the counter, reached into the cash register and grabbed $350 from the till before running from the store.The store clerk told authorities he immediately recognized Griggs as a customer who frequented the store.Griggs turned himself in to Lynn police a few hours after the holdup and reportedly gave a statement implicating himself in the robbery, telling them he gave most of the money to his girlfriend and used the rest to buy marijuana.Griggs also is under indictments on charges pending from his arrest on Nov. 21, 2009 when police say they caught him at the Cook Street Playground with a sawed-off shotgun and illegal ammunition.He was expected to plead out the case, but instead he got arrested for the holdup.He now faces a potential life sentence in state prison for the armed robbery while masked charge as well as a mandatory jail term of 18 months for illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun.Griggs is now scheduled to be back in court on June 1 on both cases.