Police: Man Slugged By Lynn Shop Owner Robbed Her In '08

LYNN (CBS) - The store owner who made headlines earlier this week when she hit a robber with a steel rod, was surprised to learn Friday that the man arrested is someone who robbed her before.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports

24-year-old Joseph James was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Friday at his arraignment on an attempted armed robbery charge in Lynn District Court.

He's charged with trying to rob Arnold's Bakery Outlet Convenience Store with a knife Monday.

The owner, Bo Thach, smacked him with a steel rebar and he ran away.

James was arrested Thursday.

It was revealed in court Friday that James was just released from jail.  He was convicted in 2008 of robbing the same store. In that incident he had a gun.

"It's beyond my belief," Thach told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. "I don't really believe (it). I tried to bury his name. I tried to forget his face two or three years ago because he petrified not just only me, but my daughter."

In 2008, James threatened to shoot and kill Thach's nine-year-old girl.

Thach said she was hoping he'd turn his life around.