Police Log

Posted 2/12/13

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

DUST-OFF DUST-UP

A Cranston man was remanded to the ACI on Feb. 3 after he was arrested for “huffing” a …

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Police Log

Posted

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

DUST-OFF DUST-UP

A Cranston man was remanded to the ACI on Feb. 3 after he was arrested for “huffing” a chemical propellant in the parking lot of the Staples store on Bald Hill Road around 6 p.m. Sgt. Stephen Fernandez said he met with Officer Jacob Elderkin there who explained how the incident had come about.

A witness told Elderkin the suspect was seen inhaling the vapors from a can of Dust-Off, an aerosol can of compressed difluroethane that is supposed to be used to clean computer keyboards and other devices but has been the subject of widespread abuse by people who like to get high off the gas. A witness said he saw the man inhale the vapor and then fall to the ground. Elderkin said he walked around the corner of the building and saw the man, who was having difficulty walking. He said he approached the man and, when the man saw his uniform, the man dropped two cans of Dust-Off. Elderkin said the man admitted he stole the four cans of the aerosol from Staples and began to inhale the vapors right in front of the store. He said Staples acknowledged that the cans came from their store and said they did not want to press charges against the man but did say they wanted him to be warned about coming into the store again. Elderkin said he was left with charging the man with sales, possession or use of a substance with toxic vapors.

Sgt. Fernandez said he then spoke with the man, identified as Sean Patrick Hopkins, 29, of 30 Howard Ave., Cranston, if he had gained any benefit from the sober house he had been ordered to following a prior arrest for the same offense, and Hopkins said he had been staying clean for the past two months and that this was his first relapse. Elderkin reported that Hopkins was currently out on bail for the same offense in South Kingstown. He was remanded to the ACI.

LARCENY

Police reported the theft of copper cable from the Pettis Marina Boat Yard on Feb. 5. The owner of the boatyard told Benros that the larceny occurred overnight and that copper battery cables were stripped from a boat lift and additional cables stripped from other equipment that was worth a total of $270. No suspects or witnesses.

The Firestone Tire and Service Center at 1689 Post Road reported that the lock on a gate had been cut off and about 300 pounds of scrap metal worth $150 was taken from the enclosure. A fresh dusting of snow covered any tire tracks and there were no fingerprints to process. No suspects or witnesses.

The manager of Greenwich Farms at Warwick on Minnesota Avenue told police three residents at the facility left their walkers behind a wall on the property when they boarded a bus for a field trip around 10 a.m. and noticed that they were not where they left them when they returned about an hour later. She told police she wanted to file a report but that she would have to speak with the families of the residents before she filed a criminal complaint about the incident. The walkers were worth $50 each. No suspects or witnesses.

Police went to Harris Fabric on Warwick Avenue Feb. 4 for a report of a stolen copper pipe. Workers at the site told police someone apparently cut and stole a four-foot copper pipe and caused flooding, which in turn caused a pipe to freeze and burst and water damage to the equipment in the company. No suspects or witnesses.

A customer at Legal Seafood on Post Road told police he left his car in the lot around 6:30 p.m. and found it had been broken into when he returned two hours later. He said his laptop and several credit cards were missing. Another man told police his laptop was also in the car at the time and it was gone as well. The two men told police the laptops were worth about $500 each. No witnesses.

EMBEZZLED

Det. Eric Johnson reported he went to the Burger King at 2615 West Shore Rd. around 11:50 a.m. on Jan. 29 to speak with a district manager for security there. The manager said she had been doing an investigation into a manager at the store who was suspected of voiding transactions and taking the money before making deposits for the store. The security manager said they did not have actual video of the manager pocketing the cash but that voiding a customer’s check when the customer did not get a refund is at least against policy. Johnson said the manager was advised of her rights and she chose not to speak with police or give a statement at that time. Bernadette DeGrasse, 46, of 88 Earl St., West Warwick, was arrested and charged with embezzling.

DUI AND REFUSAL

Officer Nicholas DiNardo reported he was traveling south on Route 95 around 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 3 to assist another officer with a traffic stop when a car passed him. He said his cruiser was doing 70 miles per hour when he was passed and the driver swerved over the lane markings. He said he pulled the car over and noticed the driver appeared to be intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. He said he asked the man to take a field sobriety test, and he got out of the car in a deliberate manner. He said the driver failed the field sobriety test and was taken to headquarters, where he refused to take a breath test. DiNardo said the man’s passenger told him that the driver had swallowed three or four Klonopin tablets one or two hours before. DiNardo said Seth Wine, 25, of 33 Birchwood Dr., Narragansett, also refused to go to the Kent Hospital for a blood test for a toxicology screening. DiNardo said Wine appeared to become even more disoriented and he was held overnight for observation before being transported to District Court the next day.

Officer John Zaborski reported stopping a car on Bald Hill Road without headlights on around 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 1. He said he followed the car and saw it make lane changes and turns without signals. He said he pulled the car over at Bernie and Phyl’s and noticed she appeared to be intoxicated and said she didn’t know her lights were off. He said she told him she could pass any test they gave her and got out of the car for a field sobriety test and failed the test. Samantha Paolino, 22, of 138 Shadow Brook Dr., Warwick, blew a .185 and a .191 blood alcohol content on the breath test. She was charged with DUI and later released to a sober adult.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    Huff, the Magic Dragon. . .

    Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Report this

  • Momend22

    Huff.....lol....

    Sunday, February 17, 2013 Report this