Man who violently robbed two elderly women on consecutive days sentenced to prison in Fall River court

A 44-year-old Massachusetts man who violently robbed two elderly women on consecutive days in April of 2019 was sentenced to state prison last week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Miguel Brasil, of New Bedford, pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with two counts of unarmed robbery of a person over the age of 60, two counts of assault and battery on a person over the age of 60 and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

On April 8, 2019, Dartmouth Police responded to Citizens Bank at 606 Dartmouth Street for a report of an unarmed robbery of a 77-year-old woman. The victim was visibly shaken up and distraught and had minor cuts to her hands when the person, later identified as Brasil, pushed her to the pavement and pulled her purse off her shoulder, which contained $700 in cash that she had just cashed from two checks, her credit cards her cell phone and other personal belongings.

The victim was able to provide a general description of her assailant as a heavy white male 40-50 years old, along with a direction of travel and that he was in a gray sedan. Officers were able to get surveillance video in the surrounding area of the bank, including video showing the party later identified as Brasil commit the robbery and push the victim to the ground.

That video was posted to Facebook, which led to a citizen calling into the police department and identifying Brasil and the vehicle he was driving.

Police also recovered a surveillance video from a resident of New Bedford showing the person, later identified as Brasil, removing the front license plate of the vehicle. The person depicted physically resembled the robbery suspect from the Citizen’s Bank and the citizen tipster viewed that video and identified him with 110% certainty as Brasil, and the vehicle as the suspect vehicle. This vehicle was later identified as being registered to Brasil’s mother.

The following day, April 9, 2019, Sgt. Frank Olivei observed a Toyota Corolla backed into a spot at Rite Aid. He observed that it was backed in the same manner that it had been at the Citizen’s Bank the day before. He also observed that it had no front-end plate, and that the operator, later identified as the defendant, was wearing consistent clothing to what the Citizen’s Bank suspect had been wearing the day prior. Sgt. Olivei circled the lot to get in a better position and saw Brasil pushing an elderly female as he pulled her pocketbook off her arms and then reentered the Toyota in an attempt to flee. This victim was identified as a 72-year-old woman. Sgt. Olivei tried to position his cruiser to block Brasil’s vehicle and the defendant nearly crashed into him as he fled the area.

Other police officers attempted to locate Brasil after he fled the scene, including Sgt. Scott Stanton. Brasil was traveling at high speeds, and when Sgt. Stanton spotted him, his vehicle was heading straight towards Sgt. Stanton and crashed into his stationary cruiser’s left front, causing another car to also get into a collision with another cruiser.

During booking, Brasil confessed to both crimes and said he specifically targeted the elderly women.

Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn O’Leary argued to Judge Renee Dupuis that due to the seriousness of the incidents, Brasil should serve four to six years in state prison. However, Judge Dupuis sentenced him to serve two to three years in prison, followed by two years of supervised probation.

“I am pleased the defendant was held accountable for his conduct. Preying on our seniors has no place in our society, and a state prison sentence was warranted,” District Attorney Quinn said.