Police: Lynn man made threats after assaulting pregnant friend

LYNN – A judge ordered a homeless city man held on $750 cash bail after police said the man punched then robbed a pregnant friend at a Western Avenue gas station when she refused to give him money and objected to his using heroin.”He stated that he hoped that we all get stuck by his needles and that we would get hepatitis,” Lynn Police Officer Michael McEachern wrote in a police report of the arrest. “He also made numerous threats that he would be getting a 9-millimeter firearm next time.”Michael F. MacDonald, 19, homeless, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery; unarmed robbery; resisting arrest; and trespassing at 2:42 a.m. Saturday. He was arraigned on the charges Monday in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.Police reported responding to the Prime gas station on Western Avenue on the report of a robbery at 1:21 a.m. Saturday.The alleged victim told police she and MacDonald had driven to a rehabilitation facility in Quincy to deliver money and cigarettes to her boyfriend. But MacDonald allegedly began asking her for money as they returned to Lynn.The alleged victim said MacDonald became “more and more aggressive” and eventually took out a needle to shoot heroin, according to police.When the alleged victim tried to kick MacDonald out of the car, he allegedly began yelling, then punching and pushing her. MacDonald allegedly grabbed $260 cash from the alleged victim’s bra and then fled after the alleged victim locked herself in her vehicle and threw drug paraphernalia out of the window.A witness corroborated this account, police reported.Officers saw MacDonald on Western Avenue and then chased him as he ran into General Electric and hid in the bushes. MacDonald allegedly resisted arrest, and officers noticed several uncapped needles sticking through the sides of MacDonald’s shorts as they put him in the cruiser.A prosecutor requested $5,000 cash bail, citing the violent nature of the offense, according to court documents. Defense attorney Kevin Prendergast requested MacDonald be released on personal recognizance as he had no prior record.Judge Antoinette Leoney ordered MacDonald held on $750 cash bail and specified conditions of release including that the defendant stay away from and have no contact with the alleged victim and be randomly screened for drug and alcohol.MacDonald is scheduled to return to court Sept. 23.