A violent altercation between a Massachusetts gas station clerk and an armed robber ended with the clerk stabbing the thief with his own knife, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office.
The armed robber, a 39-year-old Taunton man named Christopher Azevedo, was arrested following the incident, and pleaded guilty to indictments in Fall River Superior Court, the office stated on Monday.
Azevedo was charged with with armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon, and will serve four-and-a-half to six years, the office said.
At 8:30 p.m. on June 22, 2022, the Taunton Police Department responded to a call of an armed robbery at a Geko gas station in the town. The clerk told police he’d been taking a gas delivery when a man in a mask and hood, later identified as Azevedo, walked into the store and demanded money.
Azevedo had a “very large” knife, the office said, and ordered the clerk to put money into a bag or he’d stab him. A struggle ensued, and the office stated the robber pinned the clerk to the ground.
The clerk wrestled the knife away from Azevedo, the office said, then stabbed the thief with his own knife multiple times. The office stated the clerk had to be hospitalized with a cut to one hand and abrasions on both, along with his arms and forehead.
Even though he was injured, the office said Azevedo was relentless and still tried to get money from the store.
The thief tried to hit the clerk with a metal display rack, and then grabbed the cash register drawer and ran from the scene, the office said. The cash register drawer, along with the sweatpants Azevedo had been wearing, were found near the store covered in blood, the office said.
After reviewing surveillance footage of the entire event, exactly has the clerk described, police posted still images of Azevedo on social media and looked into some anonymous tips into his identity, the office said.
When officers went to Azevedo’s home, the office said they found a bloody sweatshirt, bloody sneakers and said the Taunton man had a stab wound in the same place where he had been stabbed in the armed robbery.
