Bail for alleged Lynn armed robber stands at $250

SALEM – A Superior Court judge agreed to continue the $250 cash bail for a former Lynn man charged with stealing approximately $1,400 at knifepoint from a Lynn man three months ago.A prosecutor for the commonwealth insisted on a much higher bail amount.Ellis Wright, 40, now of 8 Perkins Lane, Lynnfield, formerly of 18 Lander St., Lynn, who is charged with armed robbery and has been free on bail, appeared in Salem Superior Court for a bail review hearing last week.Assistant District Attorney Jean M. Curran urged the court to raise the bail to $3,000.Curran told Judge John T. Lu that the crime happened in Lynn on March 13 when a man told police he was leaving a Mexican restaurant on Munroe Street and was approached by a woman who said she was hungry and offered him sex in exchange for money.While en route to her apartment at 44 Estey St., the man saw the woman apparently having a conversation with Wright, who later showed up at her second-floor apartment and stole $1,400 in cash from him at knifepoint.After the incident, the woman and the alleged victim together flagged down a police cruiser and reported the incident. The man later identified the suspect through a photo array shown by police. Curran said the man had intended to buy a car with the cash he had on his person.Defense lawyer Mark Schmidt argued the bail remain at $250, reminding Lu that his client had shown up for court and is not a flight risk.Schmidt said the police report states that only the alleged victim talked to police after the robbery and that the money was to be wired to Mexico, pointing out inconsistencies in his version of events.Schmidt said his client is now living in Lynnfield with his brother and is working for his brother at real estate properties he owns.Lu agreed to continue the bail with conditions that Wright be placed on pre-trial probation pending his trial, report once a week to the probation department and consent to random drug tests.He is scheduled to be back in court on Aug. 29.