Suspected robber held without bail

LYNN – A judge ordered a Melrose man held without bail after police said the man robbed a Saugus Dunkin’ Donuts at knifepoint early Thursday morning.”Once the store manager came back to the counter and opened the cash drawer to complete the transaction, the suspect is seen leaping up onto and over the counter, and presented what appeared to be a knife,” Saugus Police Officer Christopher Palumbo wrote in a report.Vyacheslav Phinney, 25, of 6 Indian Hill Lane, Melrose, was arrested and charged with armed robbery; and assault with a dangerous weapon; at 3:02 a.m. Thursday.Phinney was arraigned on the charges Thursday afternoon in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.A manager at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 1204 Broadway (Route 1) near the Essex Street exit told police the suspect, later identified as Phinney, came into the store and ordered a coffee, according to a police report.Phinney then allegedly robbed the manager at knifepoint and fled the scene.A customer at the restaurant’s drive-thru window told officers he witnessed the robbery and followed Phinney as he fled to a Walgreens parking lot. Phinney tried to get into a parked car – later found to be registered to him – but then fled down Essex Street to a driveway just before Vine Street when he heard the witness yell, according to police.”As the suspect was fleeing, (the witness) yelled ?stop, the police are coming,'” Palumbo reported. “At this point the suspect turned back toward the witness and pulled out what appeared to be a knife.”Saugus firefighters and police used a thermal-imaging camera to find Phinney lying on the ground in brush, according to the report, and arrested him. Police reported surveillance footage from the Dunkin’ Donuts confirmed the witness’ and victim’s accounts of the alleged incident. The alleged victim was “100 percent” sure when she identified Phinney as the armed robber, police also noted.Essex Assistant District Attorney Mark Byron requested Phinney be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing and that Phinney’s bail in a prior case – a September burglary in Peabody – be revoked. Public defender Katie Cox asked for a later date to argue both motion requests. Judge Joseph Jennings ordered Phinney held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Nov. 14.Police have reported differences between this and other robberies of Dunkin’ Donuts franchises recently in metropolitan Boston.