PEABODY — At his arraignment in Peabody District Court Tuesday morning, a 21-year-old man who allegedly robbed the Northshore Mall location of Kay’s Jewelers on Monday was ordered held without bail pending the result of a dangerousness hearing, the Essex County district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Starlin Batista, of 95 Main St., has been charged with one count of armed and masked robbery, said Glen Johnson, a spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker, in a statement. Batista’s dangerousness hearing is set for Friday, April 24.
Batista allegedly entered the store around 12:45 p.m. Monday, demanding gold and jewelry. He allegedly displayed a weapon that police later determined was a BB gun and had a note in his backpack that read, “Put everything in the bag. I give you two minutes before I shoot. Don’t make a sound.”
He allegedly donned a white mask (the one made famous by the “Scream” movie franchise) and all-black clothing to carry out the robbery.
Later, Sgt. Stephen Zampitella observed a man matching Batista’s description walking near an access road of the mall property. When Batista saw Zampitella, he allegedly attempted to run away but was apprehended in the area of Northshore Road, police said.
During the arrest, police said they recovered a black BB gun, and several watches and necklaces Batista allegedly stole from Kay’s.
Nobody was injured during the incident, police said. Several stores in the mall went into a brief lockdown as a result of the robbery.
“This is a procedure that the Peabody police, in partnership with mall security and management, have trained together for occurrences like this incident,” Lt. David Bonfanti, a department spokesman, said.
