Police Log

Posted 3/5/15

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Warwick Police Department.

SEDAN HITS FIRE TRUCK

No injuries were reported Tuesday morning when a sedan slammed headlong into a fire truck …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Police Log

Posted

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Warwick Police Department.

SEDAN HITS FIRE TRUCK

No injuries were reported Tuesday morning when a sedan slammed headlong into a fire truck on Airport Road near the Post Road intersection.

According to Lt. Michael Gilbert of Warwick Police, the fire truck, which was not on an emergency call, was traveling east about 11:30 a.m. when a car driven by Dylan Gardner, 20, of 299 Norwood Ave., Warwick crossed the double yellow line and hit the apparatus. He said the collision severely damaged the car, but Gardner refused medical attention.

Nonetheless, Gilbert said, Gardner was taken into custody and brought to Rhode Island Hospital where he submitted to a blood test. He said Gardner is being charged with DUI.

Soon after the accident that prompted calls to the newspaper, Mayor Scott Avedisian called to report that the three firefighters in the truck had been taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure and that they were uninjured.

Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene, which resulted in delays at the heavily traveled intersection. 

LARCENY

Officer Aaron Kay was dispatched to Edgehill Road at approximately 4:24 p.m. on March 2 for the report of a wallet that was lost while at Big Lots. Kay met with a woman who said she was at the Big Lots store on Warwick Avenue earlier that day but after she left, she realized she forgot her wallet and her gold MK wristlet with miscellaneous credit cards, a checkbook, and her pink iPhone 5C in the carriage in the parking lot. She told Kay when she returned, the items were missing and after checking with store employees, they hadn’t been found. The woman indicated she wished to report that the items were missing but was unable to provide the serial number of the iPhone. No suspects.

SHOPLIFTING

Officer Brian Murray was dispatched to the Sears department store at Rhode Island Mall at 1:46 p.m. on March 3 for the report of an adult male shoplifter in custody. Murray met with a loss prevention agent who said he witnessed a white male enter the Sears store and head to the men’s department where he selected a pair of gray Southpole sweatpants, three striped T-shirts and one solid colored T-shirt. The man then entered a fitting room, where he remained for several minutes before exiting with no clothing in his hands. A check of the fitting room confirmed no merchandise had been left behind. The man exited the store, passing all points of sale but failing to pay for the concealed merchandise. The man was stopped outside by loss prevention and escorted back into the store without incident. The total value of the merchandise was valued at $170. Officer Murray arrested Evan Malley, 19, of 20 Spinnaker Court, Narragansett, and transported him to Warwick Police Department headquarters, where he was processed, placed in the cell block and charged with one count of shoplifting misdemeanor.

DUI

Officer Kevin McGuire Jr. was dispatched to East Avenue at approximately 12:50 a.m. on Feb. 22 for the report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries. Upon arrival, Warwick Fire & Rescue were already on scene. McGuire said he observed a gray 2006 Ford F250 pickup truck in the roadway with front-end damage and both airbags deployed. Several hundred feet in front of the truck was a large plow truck with a sander on the back that had been hit. McGuire said he met with the operator of the plow truck first, who said she was hit from behind by the pickup. She said a man got out of the pickup and approached her to see if she was OK. She said he appeared to be drunk and was very emotional while speaking on the phone. 

McGuire said he also met with the pickup driver, identified as Luis M. Correia, 44, of 138 Arcadia Ave., Cranston, who was in a neck brace on a stretcher in the rear of the ambulance. When asked what happened, the Correia said, “All I saw was blank, I saw nothing, and then I hit her” and started crying. McGuire asked again what happened and Correia said, “I’ll be honest Officer, I did have four or five beers.” Correia said he was coming from Johnston, where he had a few beers at a bar. McGuire said he could detect the odor of an intoxicating beverage emanating from the man’s breath as he spoke, his eyes were bloodshot and glossy, and his speech was slurred. Based on a horizontal gaze nystagmus test and Correia’s state, McGuire determined the man may have been under the influence of an intoxicating beverage and read him his rights. 

McGuire then returned to police headquarters to pick up a blood test kit before meeting Correia at Rhode Island Hospital, where he was transported by Rescue. McGuire said Correia declined his right to a confidential phone call and signed the form, stating he refused to take a chemical test. Asked again where he was that evening, Correia said he was at the Holy Ghost in West Warwick for one or two hours and consumed five or six beers. McGuire said Correia was apologetic and visibly upset throughout the encounter. He told McGuire in the past he has driven after drinking much more than he had that evening without a problem.

Due to Correia’s injuries and the fact he was being held at the hospital for an extended amount of time, he was released from the scene with a summons for DUI/Drugs/Alcohol 1st Offense – B.A.C. Unknown, as well as a violation for Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test (1st Offense), which was later amended with an additional charge of Interval Between Vehicles (Following Too Close). McGuire said Correia would still need to be processed once he is released from the hospital, since he was not fingerprinted.

Officer Aaron Steere was stopped at a red traffic signal headed westbound on Centerville Road at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 21 when he observed a vehicle pass him and travel through the red light. Steere activated his emergency lighting and siren and pursued the vehicle, which eventually came to a stop in the middle of the right-hand turn lane of Centerville Rd., in front of 501 Centerville Rd. Steere made contact with the operator and observed the man was visibly intoxicated, slumped down in the vehicle with his head facing the floor board, with partially closed bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech, and a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage emanating from his breath. 

When advising the man of why he was stopped, he told Steere he did not recall seeing the police vehicle or the red light. When asked where he was headed, the man said he was heading back to his residence in the Buttonwoods section of Warwick, pointing ahead westbound, saying he was headed to the next neighborhood and his house was just down the street. Steere advised the man he was several miles from his residence and that Buttonwoods was in the opposite direction, east of their location, but the man was adamant he was headed in the right direction. 

After confirming the man had a valid driver’s license, he was asked to exit the vehicle and submit to a series of field sobriety tests, at which point the man became loud and asked why the officer was doing this to him. During questioning the man said he was coming from a friend’s house before changing his story to say he was coming from a bar, where he “may have had a few beers.” Steere said the man was uneasy on his feet and appeared to take small, choppy steps to maintain his balance. After observing four of six clues on the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test and the man refusing to submit to the Walk and Turn and One-Leg Stand tests, and based on observations of the man’s vehicle in motion, Steere concluded the man was impaired through the consumption of an alcoholic beverage to the point where could not safely operate a motor vehicle. William T. Orifice, 54, of 36 Noyes Street, Warwick, was placed in handcuffs, read his rights and was transported to Warwick Police Department headquarters and a tow truck was called to pick up his vehicle. 

Upon arrival at police headquarters, Orifice was placed in the cellblock, where he became belligerent and continued to interrupt Steere while attempting to read him his rights. He refused to submit to a chemical test and refused to sign the Rights for Use at the Station form. He also refused to make a confidential phone call and continued to be belligerent and uncooperative throughout the processing. Steere said Orifice asked several times to cut him a break because he was a Vietnam War veteran, despite being too young to have served since he was born in 1960. Orifice was issued a Third District Court Summons charging him with DUI/Drugs/Alcohol/1st Offense – B.A.C. Unknown, as well as an RI Traffic Tribunal Summons charging him with Obedience to Traffic Control Device, both of which he refused to sign. He was later determined to no longer be under the influence of intoxicating beverages and was released with his summons and tickets.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here