Taunton Habitual Breaking and Entering Defendant entenced to 25 Years in State Prison
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
Press Release
July 26, 2017
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced today that a 47-year-old Taunton man was sentenced to serve 25 years in state prison after he was convicted this week of being a habitual offender who has broken into numerous homes during the past three decades.
Miguel Erickson was convicted during a jury trial of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, larceny from a building and receiving stolen property valued at more than $250. On the day after his jury trial conviction, he was also convicted of being a habitual offender, which increased his sentence.
The trial was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Katie Rayburn and Carolyn Morrissette.
On October 10, 2013. the defendant broke into a Winthrop Street home at 3 a.m. while the victim was asleep in bed. The victim woke up around 3:00am when she heard some noises. She deactivated her alarm and checked the first floor of her house. When she did not find anything, she reactivated her alarm and went back to sleep, not aware that the defendant was still hiding inside the home. At 5:45am, the victim’s neighbor was on his porch putting his boots on for work when he saw a man climbing out of the victim’s second floor window onto a ladder. The neighbor attempted to chase the fleeing suspect, but lost him during a short foot pursuit. The victim reported that her Beanie Babies, collectible dolls, and a suitcase were missing. Taunton Police arrived and processed the second floor window for prints. Police located 6 fingerprints on the interior casing with the tips pointing down. The prints were lifted and taken to the Plymouth Bureau of Criminal Investigations for analysis. On October 12, 2013, police determined one print taken from the window contained sufficient ridge detail for comparison. Police then compared the print to the defendant’s known fingerprint card and determined the print on the interior casing belonged to defendant.
Taunton Police then obtained a warrant for the defendant and arrested him on October 12, 2013. When arrested, the defendant was riding a bicycle and had a pair of gloves and a flashlight in his possession. Later that day, police searched his apartment and found property belonging to the victim.
The trial in Fall River Superior Court lasted five days, and the jury deliberated for about three hours before returning its verdict.
The defendant was convicted of being a habitual offender because of his numerous previous convictions in Middlesex and Essex Counties for burglary, larceny, and breaking and entering.
“Breaking into somebody’s house during the night time is an extremely serious offense. This defendant has a history of breaking into people’s homes,” District Attorney Quinn. “The sentence imposed by the court is necessary to protect the public from this defendant’s long-standing criminal behavior . I would like to thank prosecutors Rayburn and Morrissette for their effort s in this case.”
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications