PARIS – Two Massachusetts men pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Tuesday in Superior Court on felony charges of robbery, receiving stolen property and unlawful possession of heroin.

Bail was set at either $5,000 cash or $100,000 surety each for Daniel Patrick Shannon, 19, and Brian Edward Kinlin Jr., 19, both of Rockland, Mass. After being arraigned, they were returned to jail where they have been held since being arrested after a Dec. 2 armed robbery in Bethel.

At the time of their arrest, bail was set at $75,000 cash or $250,000 surety.

They were indicted by an Oxford County grand jury on Jan. 15. Kinlin was charged with one Class A count of robbery and a Class B count of receiving stolen property. Shannon was charged with Class A robbery, the Class B crime of receiving stolen property, and a Class C count of unlawful possession of heroin.

Both men allegedly robbed the Big Apple convenience store on Railroad Street at gunpoint, then fled down Route 26 while police rushed to the scene.

They were apprehended by Paris Sgt. Mike Dailey and officer Matthew Dailey on Route 26 just south of Stearns Hill Road after crashing their car into a tree while counting and stuffing their loot – more than $500 – into their pockets, said Bethel police Chief Darren M. Tripp.

According to Tripp, Shannon reportedly pointed what later turned out to be a semi-automatic handgun stolen from Robert W. Merritt of Massachusetts, at a clerk during the holdup and ordered her to give him the money in the cash register.

Prosecutors filed a motion to try the men together in Superior Court at Paris. A trial date had yet to be set.

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