Homeless man goes on Lynn vandalism spree

LYNN – Police arrested a homeless man Wednesday evening after he allegedly wreaked havoc on several Market Square businesses while armed with a large crowbar, according to an arrest report.Ernesto Diaz Flores, 48, allegedly walked through a Market Street shopping center and smashed the windows of several businesses there on Wednesday around 8 p.m., according to the report.A store clerk at Tufts Food Mart on Munroe Street told officers a “crazed man,” later identified as Flores entered the store and began “yelling and screaming, tearing everything down from the counters and displays and destroying the merchandise,” according to the report.?This is believed to be the beginning of Flores? rampage,” Officer Ryan McDermott wrote in his report. “It appears Flores?was interrupted by the police or his path of destruction would have continued.”Alegre Dental Center at 160 Market St. and All State Pain Center on Munroe Street both had broken storefront windows, police said. Witnesses said they also saw Flores knock one of the side mirrors off of a parked red truck on Andrew Street.When police arrived, Flores refused to drop the crow bar and instead tried to run away, according to the report, but police took him to the ground and arrested him, charging him with four counts of malicious destruction of property over $250 and resisting arrest.McDermott noted that Flores appeared to be “heavily influenced by either drugs or alcohol,” and was too out of control to be properly booked at the station.Judge James Lamothe ordered Flores held on $1,000 bail in District Court Thursday. He is due back for a pre-trial hearing on Aug. 13.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].