A Tiverton man accused of a violent robbery at a Fall River convenience store last year will serve five to seven years in state prison, after pleading guilty in Superior Court last week.

Randy T. Audet, of 25 Stafford Road, robbed the Maplewood Superette in Fall River on May 29, 2021. Officials from the Bristol County District Attorney's Office said Audet walked into the store and demanded money while pointing to the lottery machine behind the counter. Two employees believed he had a gun because it appeared he had an object beneath his sweatshirt.

Surveillance footage showed Aubin gesturing as if he was in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said, and after one of the employees placed a handful of cash on the counter, Audet fled with the money.

But as he fled, one of the employees followed him out with a baseball bat and smashed the driver’s side window of his car as he attempted to flee. According to the DA, the woman struggled with Audet and she pulled his face mask off, getting a good look at his face. Audet threw the money out the window and took off. Police later found his vehicle just over the state line in Tiverton, and arrested him at his home on Stafford.

At the time of the robbery, Audet was on probation for a previous armed robbery in 2018 at the Southern Mass Credit Union, also on Stafford Road.

“This defendant committed another armed robbery while on release for the same type of crime,” said Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn. “He clearly needs to be kept off the street to protect the public and the local small business community.”

Audet is currently being housed in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in Shirley, Mass.