Taunton Armed Robber Sentenced to State Prison for Gas Station Robbery

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Taunton man with a history of robbery arrests has been sentenced to prison for the armed robbery of a Taunton gas station last summer.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, Christopher Azevedo, 39, pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

He was sentenced to serve four and a half to six years in state prison.

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The charges relate to the June 22, 2022 armed robbery of the GeKo gas station.

The D.A. said that the clerk told police he was taking a gas delivery when Azevedo came into the office area while wearing a mask and a hood, and armed with a very large knife. He told the clerk to put the money in a bag or get stabbed. A struggle ensued, and the clerk was able to get the knife away from Azevedo.

Azevedo pinned the clerk down but the clerk was able to disarm him, and stabbed Azevedo multiple times. The clerk also suffered some abrasions to his hands, arms and forehead, as well as a cut to his hand.

Despite being stabbed, Azevedo still attempted to take money from the store, trying to strike the clerk with a metal display rack before eventually grabbing the cash register drawer and leaving on foot.

The clerk’s recounting of events was corroborated by surveillance footage, D.A. Quinn said.

Police later found the register drawer and a pair of bloody sweatpants that matched a description of the robber’s sweatpants.

Still photos posted on social media led to anonymous tips that in turn led police to Azevedo. When they went to his home, they found a bloody sweatshirt, bloody sneakers and saw that he had stab wounds consistent with where the robber was stabbed, leading to his arrest.

Azevedo has a history of arrests for breaking and entering, including a 2012 incident in which he hid from police in a storm drain pipe and a sewer camera was used to locate him, and then a 2015 incident in which he allegedly broke into a school and left blood behind, which police were able to match to Azevedo through DNA.