A 26-year-old New Bedford man who broke into homes and stole multiple items in Fall River and Taunton was sentenced to serve three to four years in state prison last week in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Bradley Gomes pleaded guilty to a two-count indictment charging him with breaking and entering during the daytime to commit a felony and larceny from a building.
On July 9, 2015, an elderly couple left their house located on Eddy Street in Fall River at 9:45am and returned home around 3:15pm. When they returned, they noticed their television and jewelry were missing. Fall River Police investigators determined that entry to the home was made via the rear door, which had its locking mechanism cut out. Police processed the scene for finger prints and lifted a palm print on the exterior glass of a window at the rear of the home. After speaking with witnesses, police determined that the defendant sold the television and jewelry to a local pawnbroker. Video surveillance at the pawn shop confirmed the defendant brought the stolen items to the pawn shop on the afternoon they were stolen. When the defendant was arrested and booked, police obtained his palm prints. The palm print matched the one found at the crime scene.
After posting bail and awaiting trial on the Fall River robbery, the defendant again broke into a home.
On January 4, 2016 at noon, Taunton Police were dispatched to a home on Hart Street for a reported breaking and entering incident. The side door to the home had been kicked in and the door jamb was heavily damaged. Stolen items included an Apple Ipad, jewelry, sneakers, a television and collector coins. The victim, along with police, tried to locate the IPad by using his ICloud account, and the Find My IPhone function. The Apple satellite map showed the location of the stolen IPad to be at building C of Canterbury Villages condominiums at 144 Hart Street, which is approximately 300 yards from victim’s house. About an hour after the break was discovered, police observed a male party coming from the far end of Building C carrying a box which appeared to be a television. The male placed the television in the back seat of a Chevy Lumina and then entered the vehicle. Police stopped the vehicle and found Mr. Gomes inside, along with the stolen television and stolen sneakers. A subsequent search of the defendant’s father’s home in Taunton resulted in the recovery of the victims’ jewelry and IPad.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Morrissette, and the sentence was handed down by Judge Raffi Yessayan. In addition to the three to four year state prison sentence, Judge Yessayan also placed the defendant on probation for two years upon his release from prison.
“A person’s home is their sanctuary. The defendant has a history of breaking into people’s homes. The defendant claims to have been motivated by drug addiction,” District Attorney Quinn said. “However, He must be held accountable for these serious offenses.”
