2 Fall River Men Charged in Local Convenience Store Robbery

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Two Massachusetts men were taken into police custody after an alleged convenience store robbery on Jan. 5. Both men are from the Fall River area. The robbery took place at approximately 6:23 p.m. at Tedeschi's convenience store on Pleasant Street. According to store clerks, the two men were masked when they entered the store, demanding money with one of them holding a knife.

Police say that the alleged robbers left the store with an unknown amount of cash. Other nearby witnesses reported seeing the men enter another Pleasant Street building. When police investigated the scene, they found clothing and face-masks they suspect were used to carry out the robbery. It is unclear whether the men were taken into custody while at the second location or if police pursued and apprehended them at another location.

The two men, ages 22 and 24, were subsequently taken into custody on charges of armed masked robbery, and conspiracy. The 22-year-old was charged with receiving stolen property and furnishing a false name to police at the time of the arrest. The 24-year-old was charged only with armed masked robbery and conspiracy. The 22-year-old had three 2013 warrants for arrest based on charges of assault and battery as well as vandalizing property.

It is unclear if the 24-year-old involved had any prior criminal record. If not, his defense attorney may attempt to negotiate a lesser charge on the grounds of a first property crime offense. One possible avenue of defense relates to how the clothing evidence was gathered. In cases where it can be proven that police obtained evidence improperly, the evidence may be stricken from consideration in court.

Source: myFOXboston.com, "2 arrested in connection with robbery in Fall River", Ashley Troutman, Jan. 7, 2015