Police Log

Posted 2/13/14

THREE FOR ONE

Det. Eric Johnson reported that a woman who was asked to come into headquarters about some fraudulent checks she’d cashed and quickly learned that it was about a purse that was …

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Police Log

Posted

THREE FOR ONE

Det. Eric Johnson reported that a woman who was asked to come into headquarters about some fraudulent checks she’d cashed and quickly learned that it was about a purse that was stolen from a customer at Sullivan’s Publick House on Dec. 13 of last year. Johnson reported that they had surveillance of the woman taking the purse and leaving by the back door but had more evidence that she used the credit cards in the purse at several places in Warwick and other places, but, under the circumstances, he welcomed her candor in regard to the fraudulent checks. She claimed she was cashing five checks worth $1,270 over the past week for a friend of hers and she only got $20 for one check but got a cup of coffee or a pack of cigarettes for the others. She said her friend was stealing the checks from an 80-year-old Warwick man who trusted her.

Det. Joseph Mee reported that he was there when Johnson was asking “the suspect in a stolen purse caper from Sullivan’s” and took the opportunity to ask her about charges made on her sister’s credit cards last November and about her sister’s laptop that went missing in December and charges on her debit card in March. He said she admitted using the debit card but denied stealing the computer. By the time the interview was over, Christine E. Flanagan, 44, of 35 Meadowbrook Ave., Warwick, was charged with five counts of felony fraudulent checks, three counts of fraudulent computer access and larceny for the stolen purse that reportedly contained $140 in cash along with the credit cards.

SHOPLIFTING

Melvin Sanabria, 36, of 71 Niagara St., Providence, was charged with stealing 22 pairs of Calvin Klein panties worth $12 each, a North Face jacket worth $11.75 and two Calvin Klein knit hats worth $24 each from Macy’s in Warwick Mall on Feb. 5. Officer Britton Kelly reported he caught Sanabria behind a nearby office building. Loss prevention told Kelly he stuffed the merchandise under his shirt and was leaking panties as he walked away from them. He was brought to headquarters, where he was charged with shoplifting and held while they awaited results from the AFIS system for his identity and whether he was in the country from Guatemala legally. In the meantime, he was held for District Court in the morning for stealing $459.95.

Ryan R. Burns, 38, of 43 Reed St., Warwick, was arrested at the Walmart store at Rhode Island Mall on Feb. 2 after loss prevention at the store told police he picked up a 32-inch television set and tried to cut the spider wire sensor devise off with something from his pocket. They said he didn’t succeed and put a DVD player in a shopping bag instead and walked out of the store. They told police to be careful because he had a sharp object on him. Officer Nicholas Reay said he caught him outside and took him to headquarters without incident and charged him with shoplifting and later released him with a summons.

Xiomara Lopez, 51, of 500 Broad St., Providence, was charged with stealing $640 worth of merchandise from the JC Penney store in Warwick Mall on Jan. 28. Loss prevention at the store said they watched Lopez and a companion moving through the store, selecting and concealing merchandise before attempting to leave without paying for the stuff. Officer Darren Parrillo said he was processing Lopez at headquarters when he noticed that another shirt she was wearing had the price tag hanging from it. The shirt was confiscated and returned to JC Penney.

PARANOIA

Officer Stephen Major reported he was doing a fixed traffic post around 4:40 p.m. on Feb. 4 when a man approached him and told him it felt like people were following him. Major said he talked with him some more and learned the man thought every car that was driving past was following him and looking at him and told Major that he should know because Major was one of the people investigating him. He said the man claimed he spoke with numerous lawyers and they all confirmed that he was being investigated. Major said he asked him who was investigating him and he said the police, although he did not know where he was or who he was talking to but he knew that Warwick Police were investigating him. He said the man was alternately excited and calm and inquisitive. He said he called for another car and patted the man down. Major said he was nervous about the way the man’s hands would go into his pockets and then into a bowling bag. He said he had no weapons on him but did have what looked like $1,487 worth of gold Teddy Roosevelt $1 coins. Major said he also found a prescription bottle in the bag and the man said, “That is Adderall.” He said the man claimed he had a prescription for the drug but the particular pills Major was holding belonged to his sister. He said he and a sergeant discussed what to do with the man and they decided he needed professional psychiatric help. Major said he confiscated the pills but did not arrest the man because Kent Hospital does not do psyche evaluations on people who have been arrested. He said they took him to Kent, where the staff began to explain how the evaluation would proceed and he became impatient and belligerent and turned and said, “[Expletive] it, you are just going to have to arrest me for the Adderall.” He was taken to headquarters, where he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and held for the bail commissioner. Major said they learned that the man, who earlier said his name was Kenneth Littlejohn, was in fact Giovanni Santos, 25, of 512 Florence Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa., and that he was staying at a local extended-stay motel. Major said he asked the man why he had so many presidential coins, 54 identical rolls of Roosevelt $1 coins, and Santos told him he was a collector but there as nothing else in the bag to indicate it was a collection. He said they did run a check on Santos and discovered numerous arrests and convictions for robbery, burglary, fraud and receiving stolen goods in several states. Major said a Google search turned up an account of $2.4 million worth of presidential coins were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 2011. Major said there was enough probable cause to believe the coins were stolen and that the Secret Service, who were investigating the heist in Philadelphia, be notified of the arrest.

DUI AND REFUSAL

Officer Thomas Duncan reported stopping a car for doing 52 miles per hour on Toll Gate Road around 1 a.m. on Feb. 1. He said the car was swerving from lane to lane before he caught up with it and he noticed that the driver appeared to be under the influence and he asked him to take a field sobriety test. He said the man failed the test and was taken to headquarters, where he registered a .183 on two breath tests and Michael K. Ciolfi, 38, of 359 Ring Ave., Warwick, was charged with DUI and later released with a summons.

Officer John Larivee reported he was dispatched to an accident near Christopher Motors on Greenwich Avenue around 3 p.m. on Jan. 28. Dispatch told him to hurry because one of the drivers was being uncooperative. He said several witnesses told him about the belligerent driver but he did agree to a field sobriety test, which he failed, and did take a portable breath test and blew a .112 blood alcohol content. He said the driver was taken to headquarters and blew a .125 and a.124 blood alcohol content and also told Larivee about medications he took that Larivee learned were not to be taken with alcohol. Joseph D. Gallagher, 36, of 20 Sheppard St., Warwick, was charged with DUI and later released to a sober adult.

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