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A 24-year-old Attleboro man who broke into a Seekonk home last August and assaulted the homeowner was sentenced to serve four to five years in state prison last week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
David Allard pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to a five-count indictment charging him with breaking and entering during the daytime-person in fear, armed robbery, assault and battery, larceny over $250, and armed assault in a dwelling.
On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at approximately 3pm, Seekonk Police received a frantic 911 call from a homeowner on Apple Orchard Lane. The homeowners, both in their mid-60’s, came home to an intruder. The victims noted a door open in the sunroom, which is always closed. The male victim went upstairs to the bedroom area to investigate. While walking up the stairs, the male victim confronted the intruder on the stairs between the two floors. The defendant grabbed the male victim by the throat and pushed him out of the way. The struggle resulted in an injury to the male victim’s neck area.
The female victim was on the first floor. As the defendant tried to pass her while carrying a green bag (which contained their personal items), she attempted to grab for it. The defendant yelled, “I’ll stab you”, while reaching toward his pocket area. She was petrified and yelled for her husband to let the defendant out of the house.
While the female victim called 911, the male victim followed the defendant down the street as he fled with a bag of stolen property. Police arrived within moments and saw the defendant with the green bag and confronted him, at which point he fled on foot into the woods. After setting up a perimeter of the surrounding area, the defendant was located and placed under arrest. Recovered was the green bag with the victims’personal property, including, among other things, $300 cash, a watch, and assorted jewelry. A screwdriver was also recovered. The defendant was also carrying a knife with a 4 ½ inch blade.
Both victims addressed the court during the defendant’s sentencing hearing last week, telling Judge Raffi Yessayan that the defendant’s actions have made them both fearful in their own home in the year since the incident occurred. “The entire incident goes beyond upsetting. It is life altering. Our family will never feel the same in our own home,” the male victim told the judge. His wife concurred, telling Judge Yessayan, “I was innocent enough to believe that when I locked my windows and doors at night, I was safe. That security was all taken away in one afternoon. At night, I sat up in our family room, because I could not bear to go upstairs to bed. I was also afraid to come home to an empty house.”
During the sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jeanne Veenstra argued for four to eight year state prison term, with an additional probationary period upon the defendant’s release from prison. Judge Yessayan sentenced the defendant to serve four to five years in state prison, to be followed by three years of supervised probation.
“The violent assault on the homeowner while trying to flee is simply unacceptable,” District Attorney Quinn said. “People have a right to the quiet enjoyment of their home and should never have to be subjected to thefts and assaults from thieves inside their own home.”
