Fall River alleged violent armed robber who was released on bail, arrested again

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, a 39-year-old Fall River man charged in connection to a violent armed robbery was again arrested after he was released from jail after a Fall River Superior Court Judge reduced his bail from $50,000 to $0.

Jose Tirado Sanchez was indicted by a Bristol County Grand Jury in February 2016 on charges of Armed/Masked Robbery and Vandalizing property.

On January 10, 2016, officers were dispatched to Jarek’s Market in Fall River for a report of a robbery. Upon arrival, they located the victim, who had visible scratches to his left cheek and left hand.

The victim reported that he had been robbed and showed the officers the surveillance video. Officers saw that the suspect arrived on a black mountain bike. The suspect immediately attacked the victim with a knife and stole cash from the register. However, the victim fought back and cut the suspect’s hand during the struggle.

Even though the suspect was masked, the victim was able to see the male and recognized him as a frequent customer at the store. The victim pulled up previous video footage of the customer in the store and he was wearing the same pants and sneakers as he was on the date of the robbery.

The next day, Officer Heather Moniz saw a male who she recognized from the surveillance video. The male also had a bandage on his hand consistent with where the victim struck the suspect.

During his arraignment on February 11, 2016 in Fall River Superior Court, Judge Gregory Pasquale ordered the defendant held on $50,000 cash bail due to the seriousness of the crime, the defendant’s past criminal history and the defendant’s weak ties to Fall River (The defendant is a native of Puerto Rico).

However, on October 27, 2017, Fall River Superior Court Judge Thomas McGuire released the defendant by reducing his bail to personal recognizance, which included a GPS monitoring device.

Earlier this month, Worcester Police executed a search warrant at a home the defendant recently moved into. During the execution of the search warrant, police spotted Tirado-Sanchez running from the apartment via the back door. He was apprehended a short time later in the first floor stairwell and was found to be in possession of heroin. Inside a safe in the apartment, police found three full strips of suboxone and a plastic sandwich baggie containing numerous blue pills. Two young children were also found inside the apartment.

After being brought into Worcester District Court, the defendant’s bail on the open Fall River case was revoked and he is now being held in custody without bail for up to 90 days.

All information about facts of the cases are allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent, until proven guilty in a court of law.

“This is another example of a defendant who should not have been released to the street by the court. He attacked a clerk with a knife. His bail was reduced from $50,000 all the way down to personal recognizance. Even under the Supreme Judicial Court’s Brangan decision, high bail should have been set based on the seriousness of the charges and the defendant’s connections to Puerto Rico, including his pending charges there,” District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said. “It is not surprising to me that this defendant was re-arrested. His arrest goes to show that a GPS device is not a deterent to committing new crimes or violating the conditions of release. It was an abuse of judicial discretion to release this dangerous defendant and highlights the urgent need for common sense bail reform in Massachusetts.”