Police Log

Posted 2/9/17

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE A driver who told officers that he had probably 12 to 14 beers" after a recent traffic stop was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. While on routine patrol traveling eastbound on West Shore Road on January"

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Police Log

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DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

A driver who told officers that he had “probably 12 to 14 beers” after a recent traffic stop was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.

While on routine patrol traveling eastbound on West Shore Road on January 28 around 2 a.m., Officer Michael Harris observed a white Chevrolet Trailblazer pass in the other direction while driving on the center line and swerving. According to his report, the officer conducted a U-turn and followed the vehicle, which continued to swerve between lanes. The car then made an abrupt righthand turn into a parking lot without signaling before coming to a halt, at which time the officer conducted a traffic stop.

After making contact with the driver, identified as Stephen Cohen, 64, of 160 Main Street Apt. 1 in Pascoag, the officer asked why the driver was swerving, to which he replied “just trying to get home.” While speaking, the officer observed that Cohen’s speech was highly slurred, his face was flushed red, and his eyes were severely bloodshot and watery. The smell of alcohol emanating from Cohen was also detected.

When asked how much he had to drink that evening, Cohen replied “probably too much,” before revealing he probably had 12 to 14 beers. While speaking with Cohen, additional officers arrived on scene to assist, and he eventually agreed to partake in a series of standardized sobriety tests. Based on Cohen’s performance, interactions with the officer and the officer’s training and experience, it was determined that he was unfit to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Cohen was arrested and transported to police headquarters. There he took a chemical breathalyzer test, which provided two readings of 0.188 and 0.181 as a blood alcohol content. He was then fingerprinted and processed and issued a citation for driving under the influence, first offense, and another for laned roadway violations. He was later released to a sober adult.

LOUD EXHAUST

On January 30 at approximately 1:35 a.m., Officer Derek Mourato was heading north on Warwick Avenue when he noticed the driver on the side of him leaning forward not wearing a seatbelt in a car that had a loud exhaust. A traffic stop was then initiated near the Honey Dew restaurant.

Officer Mourato then met with the driver and advised him of the reason for the stop. A background check of the car’s passenger, identified as David Ellis, 38, of 22 Iron Stone Street, Apt. C in Millville, Mass., was found to have an active bench warrant for failure to appear for a suspended license charge.

Ellis was arrested and transported to police headquarters, where he was processed. He was later transported to the ACI to be held for court in the morning.

MISSING EQUIPMENT

Officer Timothy Kenyon was dispatched to a North Country Club Drive residence on January 31 at approximately 4:42 p.m. for a report of a larceny.

At the scene he met with the resident who stated that he had just gone to his back yard to retrieve a snow shovel when he noticed some of his staging equipment was missing. The man told the officer that he had not been in the back yard since the end of October or the beginning of November, so he was unsure of when the equipment was taken.

The missing items included two Werner 12-foot aluminum planks valued at approximately $850 and two Werner pump jacks with poles valued at $750. According to the resident, the yard has a fence but the gate is not normally locked. There was no surveillance video of the area, and there are currently no suspects or witnesses.

VANDALISM

On January 30 at approximately 12:50 p.m., Officer Albert Marano was dispatched to the Lucas Milhaupt on Kilvert Street for a report of malicious damage.

Officer Marano then met with the reporting party, who advised that he was watching security footage when he noticed a small, dark four-door vehicle pull into the lot around 8:05 p.m. on January 29. He then viewed two males exit the car and spray-painted a wall for approximately two minutes. The man stated that it would cost approximately $1,000 to take the graffiti off the wall and advised that he wished to press charges if suspects were apprehended. The case was then forwarded to detectives for review.

VEHICLE LARCENY

A Milton Road resident called Warwick Police on February 1 around 7 a.m. to report items taken from his car.

Officer Joseph DeDonato met with the resident, who explained that sometime during the evening between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. someone entered his unlocked vehicle in his driveway and took all the loose change, a Rhode Island notary crimp, and a 30-ounce Yeti tumbler from the car.

Officer DeDonato observed footprints in the snow, however, there was no discernable pattern as they had been covered by another fresh layer. No neighbors witnessed anything suspicious and there were no other victims of larceny in the area.

WINDOW SMASHED

Officer Brian Murray was dispatched to Knight Street on January 31 around 7:30 a.m. for a malicious damage report.

At the scene the victim stated that she noticed her passenger side window had been smashed out sometime during the evening. A business next door did have video surveillance of the property, however, the footage was not of good quality and the incident had not been captured. The car had been parked in the resident’s driveway at the time. There are currently no suspects.

SHOPLIFTING

On January 27 at 3:20 p.m., Officer Christian Vargas was dispatched to the Bald Hill Walmart for a shoplifting that had occurred earlier in the day. Dispatch advised that a white female suspect wearing a brown sweater was last seen running towards Toys R Us and then into Kohls.

Responding to Walmart, Officer Vargas met with a member of the store’s asset protection team, who pulled an image of the suspected female shoplifter whom he had observed while he was walking the sales floor. He stated that the woman walked out of the store’s garden exit with a shopping cart full of assorted merchandise valued at over $500. He told the officer that he believed he had last seen the female enter the On The Border restaurant.

The officer then responded to On The Border with a photograph of the suspect. Seated to the right in the waiting area was the suspect from the video. She was asked to identify herself, but stated that she did not have any proper identification and claimed she had been at the restaurant for over an hour. According to the report, the officer informed the woman, later identified as Kristin Phelps, 31, of 775 Wakefield Street in West Warwick, that he had positively identified her as a suspect from the Walmart shoplifting and requested that she step out of the restaurant.

Phelps was initially non-compliant, refusing to have a seat in the officer’s cruiser before eventually complying. Dispatch then informed the officer that Phelps had three outstanding warrants, two of which were for shoplifting out of the Warwick Police Department. A member of Walmart’s asset protection then arrived on scene and confirmed that Phelps was the woman he had observed in the store.

Phelps was arrested and transported to police headquarters, where she was processed by the jailer before being transported to the ACI.

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