Police investigate unrelated, simultaneous armed robberies

LYNN – Police responding to a report of an attempted armed robbery didn’t have to look hard for a victim: except that victim was for an unrelated alleged armed robbery approximately a block away from the first reported incident.”While leaving the station to investigate an attempted armed robbery with a handgun, I was approached by a frantic and sweaty (man),” Lynn Police Officer Michael Crosby reported. (He) said, ‘the guy that robbed me should be coming out of that parking lot any second. I saw him run that way.”Police Tuesday said the two incidents were separate and appear unrelated.Jesus Reyes, 20, of 162 Quincy St. #2, Dorchester, was arrested and charged with armed robbery; and assault-and-battery with a dangerous weapon; at 1:43 a.m. Tuesday.A plea of not guilty was entered for Reyes at his arraignment in Lynn District Court Tuesday.Police were responding to a report of an armed robbery in the area of the Hess Station on Liberty Street at 1:18 a.m. when the officer encountered the victim of the robbery in which Reyes is the suspect, according to police.The alleged victim said he was walking on Washington Street towards Lawton Avenue when Reyes stabbed him in the ribs with “a sharp instrument” and tried to steal the alleged victim’s bag, according to police. The alleged victim said the two struggled, then Reyes ran off with the bag towards the Hess Gas Station. The alleged victim chased Reyes to the police station parking lot where the victim met the officer. The officer reported seeing Reyes run into the parking lot at the rear of the Osmund Hotel, according to police. Police reported finding the bag along the route Reyes had taken to escape. They did not, however, find a weapon, although the victim had “a small scratch to the left side of his ribs,” according to police.Police noted Reyes matches the description of a suspect in two incidents Monday: a suspicious party holding a brick and peering into vehicles on Whittier Street; and an attempted robbery near Henry Avenue.Judge David Dunbar Livingston set $5,000 cash bail, noting that Reyes was on probation for assault charges in Lynn and had multiple defaults in previous cases, according to court documents. Reyes is scheduled to return to court July 18, according to court documents.In the other incident Tuesday morning, Lynn Police Lt. Stephen Haberek said that a man and a woman reported that a group of four or five Hispanic males approached them while in the area of the Hess Station on Liberty Street. The alleged victims reported one of the males showed a gun and demanded money.Police put out a “be-on-the-lookout” alert for a car believed to have been involved in the incident. Haberek said nobody was injured and the robbery attempt appeared unsuccessful.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].