STAND-OFF

On July 28, around 11:30 p.m., Warwick Police were called to the area of the Walmart on Post Road following reports of an erratic driver.

Police identified the driver as Richard Lee King, 39, of 16 Lansing Ave., Warwick.

Police didn’t find the King driving, but checked his residence nearby and King’s vehicle was in the home’s driveway.

According to the arrest report, King jumped out of the shrubs and was acting erratic.

Police tried to speak to him, but he kept walking away and taking a “defensive posture.”

King jumped “into a tree,” according to police, swore at police and told them to get off his property. Police tried to “coax him out of the tree and calm down.” King eventually jumped from the tree and ran around to the rear of his house.

Since King kept yelling at officers and telling them to leave, police decided to give him some space in hopes that he’d “cool off.”

Police backed off the scene, but eventually heard another person scream.

Police ran to the scene. King allegedly told police he had a shotgun in the house. He then allegedly barricaded himself in the home, refusing to come out. Warwick Police eventually called in a Crisis Negotiator Team and the department’s SWAT team.

“After a period of time with no response, SWAT made attempts to get his attention until deploying a CS gas barricade penetrating round into King’s bedroom window,” according to Detective Gilda T. Fortier’s report. “King was seen going to the second floor window and was ordered to come out the front door. He exited out the front door and sat on the front steps of his residence.”

King was charged with misdemeanors Domestic Simple Assault, Domestic Disorderly Conduct, and Failure to Stop for Accident Resulting in Damage; and felonies, Possession Firearm by a Person Convicted of a Violent Crime and Threat To Public Official.

Water Division director charged with simple assault

The director of the Warwick Water Division, 51-year old Terry DiPetrillo, of Sunny Cove Drive, Warwick, was arrested on Aug. 11 and charged with assault based on a complaint made by a co-worker the day before, according to Warwick Police.

Police did not release a report, but a statement provided by the department said DiPetrillo was released on a District Court summons and he is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. Neither the name of the co-worker nor the circumstances of the incident were released.

WARRANT ARREST

At 5:41 p.m., May 7, Johnston Police Patrolman Matthew D. Murphy spotted a white Mercedes traveling west on Plainfield Street with “unlawful heavy window tint on all its windows,” according to the arrest report.

Murphy initiated a traffic stop and identified the driver as Jeilyn Kennedy Avarista, 22, of 40 East St., Apt. 1, West Warwick. Dispatch informed Murphy that the driver had an active warrant issued by Cumberland Police Department for Distribution of Obscene Material.

Avarista was asked to step out of the vehicle and handcuffed. She was transported to Johnston Police Headquarters. Her vehicle was towed from the scene. Avarista received a citation for Unlawful Installation of Windshield and Window Sunscreen Material. She was held pending pick up by Cumberland Police.

AG: Warwick man charged with DUI,

gun-related charges following crash

that injured 11-year-old 

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced earlier this week that a Warwick man has been charged in Kent County Superior Court with multiple driving offenses, as well as carrying a pistol without a license, following a crash that seriously injured an 11-year-old female victim. 

On Aug. 3, Neronha’s office charged James Thacher, 68, of Warwick, by way of criminal information, with one count of driving under the influence resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of driving to endanger resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of driving to endanger resulting in physical injury, one count of carrying a pistol without a license, and one count of transporting a firearm while under the influence.

On Feb. 3, Warwick police responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash with injuries on the intersection of Main Avenue and Carolyn Street.

“It is alleged that upon arrival, witnesses described that the defendant, while driving his white Jeep Liberty SUV at a high speed and swerving, crashed into a Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan, occupied by a female driver and her 11-year old daughter, from behind,” according to prosecutors. “As a result of the impact, the Chevy spun and struck a nearby telephone pole.”

“As further alleged, officers approached the defendant’s vehicle and observed an odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech, and bloodshot eyes. After officers began questioning him about the incident, the defendant reached over to his passenger seat and handed them a camouflage-colored bag that contained a small, black .380 caliber Ruger pistol, two loaded magazines, and a box of 37 .380 caliber bullets. As alleged, officers then attempted to conduct a field sobriety test but could not complete it because the defendant had difficulty maintaining his balance. The defendant allegedly admitted to drinking that evening and agreed to a portable breath test, which recorded a Blood Alcohol Content level of 0.17.”

Police took the defendant into custody and later transported him to Kent County Memorial Hospital for evaluation. The 11-year-old daughter of the driver of the Chevy Cruze suffered a fractured forearm and a fractured spine in the crash. Thacher is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 18 in Kent County Superior Court.

AG: Warwick man, former Johnston school administrator, charged with child molestation

Beacon Staff Reports

Last week, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced child molestation charges against a Warwick man, Woonsocket teacher and former Johnston school administrator.

According to a press release from Neronha’s office, Steven Porricelli, 52, of Warwick, has been charged in Kent County Superior Court with multiple counts of second-degree child molestation following his arrest on May 27.

On July 14, Neronha’s office charged Porricelli “by way of criminal information, with five counts of second-degree child molestation,” according to a press release from the AG’s office. “As alleged in the criminal information, the defendant sexually assaulted a victim, under the age of 14, multiple times at a home in Warwick on or about May 19, 2023.”

The Warwick Police Department conducted the investigation. Porricelli is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Aug. 18, in Kent County Superior Court.

According to Johnston school officials, approximately a decade ago Porricelli worked for the Johnston public schools for a short while, as an administrator at the Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School.

“Mr. Porricelli hasn’t been with the district for over 10 years,” recalled Johnston Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo Jr. “There were no problems and he returned to teaching in Woonsocket on his own.”

Recent published reports indicate Porricelli was working for Woonsocket schools, as a gym teacher, at the time of his arrest. The Woonsocket schools’ superintendent did not reply to a request for comment.

According to Brian Hodge, spokesman for the AG’s office, the charges are not connected to the defendant’s career as an educator.

“The charged incidents did not take place at a school nor with a student,” Hodge explained last week. “Please note we are limited in what we can say as it is a pending case, and one involving a minor.”

On Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011, the Johnston Sun Rise published a story reporting Porricelli’s hiring as the Ferri Middle School’s new assistant principal.

According to the article, Porricelli taught physical education and English in Woonsocket and had served as the vice principal at Woonsocket High School prior to his 2011 hiring in Johnston.

Porricelli told the Sun Rise that he was “most looking forward to dealing with the students.”

“The [middle school] age level was the most difficult when I was a student,” he said. “It’s a turning point, whether good or bad, and I had always wanted to return to that age level.”

The Johnston School Committee approved a one-year employment contract for Porricelli.

“I can’t speak for the school department as they are a completely separate entity from the town, but it’s my understanding this individual hasn’t been employed by the Johnston School Department in over a decade,” Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr. said last week.

When asked if Johnston Police received or investigated Porricelli for any incidents while he was employed at the middle school, Johnston Police Chief Mark A. Vieira replied with the following: “As indicated in the AG’s press release, the Warwick Police Department conducted the investigation which led to Mr. Porricelli being charged with multiple counts of second-degree child molestation. The Johnston Police Department had no involvement in this investigation.”

Porricelli pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Aug. 4. Associate Justice Luis M. Matos set bail at $30,000 and set a Sept. 15 pre-trial conference court date, according to court records.