Revere man held for alleged armed robbery of diamond ring

SALEM – A Revere man who allegedly snatched a 14 carat diamond ring from a 68-year-old Lynn man on Johnson Street last April is held at the Middleton Jail on $5,000 after pleading innocent.Pedro Jaime Colon, 23, of 54 Eastern Ave., #1, Revere, appeared for his arraignment Monday morning in Salem Superior Court and pleaded innocent to a charge of armed robbery while masked, a crime that could net him a life sentence in state prison.Judge John T. Lu agreed to set the $5,000 cash bail at the joint request of the prosecutor and defense, with the option of leaving the door open for a bail review at another court date.At around 6 a.m. on April 9, the victim, a 68-year-old Lynn man, told authorities he was walking to his home on Washington Street from Dunkin’ Donuts when he saw a man standing on the sidewalk on Johnson Street.When the victim walked past, the man, who was wearing a bandanna over much of his face, demanded he turn over his diamond ring he had on his hand while saying he had a gun.The victim handed over the diamond ring worth more than $1,000 and the thief ran away. The victim immediately reported the incident to police.The robber was caught about 20 minutes later at the MBTA station. The ring was reportedly in his pant-pocket.The victim identified Colon as the robber and the ring was returned to him.Colon is scheduled to be back in court on Sept. 23 for a pretrial hearing.Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Kirshenbaum is prosecuting the case and Mark Schmidt is the public defender assigned to defend Colon.