ASSAULT

Just after 5:30 a.m. on June 20, officers Gian Micheletti and Brenen Cardoza responded to the McDonald’s at 2390 Warwick Ave. for a report of an assault in progress. Dispatch advised that a manager at the store was Maced by a customer going through the drive-thru window.

At the scene, Cardoza reports immediately detecting the odor of pepper spray inside the store. The manager showed visible signs of exposure to pepper spray, including red and bloodshot eyes – which she struggled to keep open – and heavy breathing. Warwick Rescue personnel then arrived on scene to treat the manager.

Multiple employees heard or witnessed part of the incident, in which a verbal argument between the manager and a customer was followed by screams of pain from the manager. The suspect was described as a white mal operating a gray or tan Hyundai four-door sedan.

The manager was unable to provide a written statement at the scene but told the officers the incident occurred while she was taking the breakfast order of a drive-thru customer. The customer asked for the “Big Breakfast Combo,” which the manager then advised is currently unavailable due to the store’s limited menu resulting from the pandemic.

The customer at that point become “agitated and started shouting,” according to Cardoza’s report, using expletives and sexual slurs toward the manager. When the vehicle approached the drive-thru’s window, the manager told the customer she would not serve him due to his behavior. At that point, the customer is said to have used the pepper spray on the manager.

The manager, who was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for additional treatment, described the suspect as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s “with spiked black hair and bushy eyebrows.”

The officers subsequently reviewed images taken from security camera footage and identified the suspect vehicle as a tan or gold Hyundai Elantra with Rhode Island registration plates.

On June 30 at approximately 3 a.m., Officer Ryan McGarry was conducting a directed patrol at the LaQuinta Inn at 36 Jefferson Boulevard when he observed a tan Hyundai Elantra occupied by a man who was sleeping in the driver’s seat. Based on his review of security camera footage from the McDonald’s incident and a driver’s license photo of the suspect, McGarry was able to identify the man in the vehicle as the suspect.

McGarry made contact with the man and checked him for weapons. Several items were visible in plain sight within the vehicle, including an aluminum baseball bat, a folding pocketknife and a can of Mace.

The man was found not to be the registered owner of the vehicle, and it was towed from the scene. The man was read his Miranda rights and informed he was a suspected in the McDonald’s incident, at which point he invoked his right to legal counsel and refused to cooperate. He was subsequently released from the scene without incident, according to McGarry.

Shortly before 8 a.m. on July 8, officers Nicholas DeMarco and Charles Austin responded to Cranston Police headquarters to take custody of Joseph M. Domenico, 40, 9 Oakwood Drive, Cranston, on an arrested warrant related to the McDonald’s incident.

Domenico was charged with simple assault/battery and disorderly conduct. He was transported to Warwick Police headquarters for processing and later released with a summons to appear in Third Division District Court.

DUI

Just before 2 a.m. on July 5, officers Derek Hagopian and Cody Wild responded to the area of 3335 Post Road for a report of a northbound vehicle swerving on the road with its headlights off. The reporting party indicated the vehicle, described as a dark colored Honda, nearly struck oncoming vehicles and telephone poles before entering the parking lot of Cumberland Farms, where its male operator was pumping gas.

The officers observed the operator and the vehicle at a gas pump at the store and initiated contact. A can of White Claw alcoholic seltzer was reportedly visible in the cup holder next to the driver’s seat, and several empty cans were on the passenger’s seat.

The operator is said to have acknowledged consuming alcohol that night and agreed to undergo field sobriety testing, which he reportedly failed but was only partially able to complete.

Elmer S. Rojas, 26, 301 Lowell Ave., Providence, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and transported to Warwick Police headquarters for processing. While at headquarters, Rojas is said to have refused a chemical breath test.

Rojas was later transported to Kent Hospital for detox. He was issued a summons to appear in Third Division District Court on a charge of driving under the influence and cited for refusal to submit to a chemical test and operating a vehicle with a suspended registration.

LARCENY

Shortly before noon on June 28, Officer Justin Martin responded to Ambient Sound at 75 New England Way for a report of catalytic converters stolen from two vehicles.

At the scene, the manager at the business said the damage to the vehicles – a 2011 Ford and a 2007 Chevy – had occurred sometime the previous night. The converters were valued at a combined $3,400.

The manager showed Martin security camera footage, in which a U-Haul box truck can be seen entering the parking lot of the business and parking near the damaged vehicles at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 27. A man dressed entirely in black is also visible in the footage.

The matter was documented.

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At approximately 7:40 a.m. on July 9, Officer Jeffrey Taranto responded to the area of 1151 Jefferson Boulevard for a report of larceny.

At the scene, the reporting party said he had parked his work truck, a 2000 Ford box truck, in a parking lot at the location at approximately 4:30 p.m. on July 8. When he returned for work the next morning, he discovered the truck’s catalytic converter – valued at approximately $2,500 – had been removed.

Taranto observed the damage and documented the matter, which was forwarded to detectives.