Fall River man sentenced to prison after committing 5 separate robberies during 48-hour span

A 34-year-old Fall River man who committed five separate robberies during a 48-hour time period in October of 2021 was sentenced last week to state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Matthew Rodrigues pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with four count of unarmed robbery and one count of masked/armed robbery and was sentenced to serve five to seven years.

The robbery spree began on October 27, 2021, at around 1:40 p.m. when Rodrigues robbed the Bay Coast Bank in Fall River.  About three hours later he robbed a Santander Bank in Raynham.

On the next day, at around 9:45 p.m., Rodrigues, while masked, entered into a Shell Gas station in Fall River. He approached the clerk and displayed a handgun in his waistband. Rodrigues told the clerk, “Give me the money and don’t press that panic button.”

Then, on October 29, 2021, Rodrigues robbed a Saint Anne’s Credit Union in Fall River at 9:20 a.m. and a Bank Five in Fall River just before noon.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Troy Murphy and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Claudine Cloutier.

“The defendant went on a robbery spree, which included an armed robbery while masked with a firearm.  He clearly presents a danger to the community and needs to be kept off the street to protect the public,” District Attorney Quinn said.