Crime & Safety

OMG PD: Cops Seize Fireworks, Stun Guns And Illegal Cigs

We compile the odd, unusual and 'oh my gosh' police items from throughout the region.

Fireworks, stun guns, illegal cigs and more

Bristol police officers found more than just firecrackers when they searched a business for illegal fireworks. After a detective was able to buy illegal fireworks from the store, a team of officers came back with a search warrant to see what else they could find. Inside, they seized a "large amount of illegal fireworks," 17 stun guns, 84 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, narcotic pills and $1,006 in cash. A 65-year-old man was charged with numerous offenses, including several felonies.

Police track down ‘Victor D’

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Crackerjack police work and an alert neighbor combined to bring down a criminal mastermind in Barrington. After a woman spotted a man running away from her house with a can of spray-paint, she contacted police and helped identify 18-year-old Victor DaSilva. Police were able to link DaSilva to several instances of vandalism where the tag “Victor D” had been spray-painted onto buildings.

Basketball? Check. High tops? Check. Meat cleaver … Umm …

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A 30-year-old Middletown man was arrested for simple assault after an argument over a basketball escalated to threats of a fight, with one man allegedly brandishing a meat cleaver. When a woman stepped in to stop the fight, the 30-year-old allegedly punched her.

Drunk, six times the legal limit

A 40-year-old Barrington man registered a blood alcohol level that’s almost unbelievable. Police found him in his car, which was still running with the transmission in drive at a main intersection in town. They believe the weight of his foot on the brake pedal prevented the vehicle from moving. 

He was allegedly so intoxicated, he could not complete the sobriety test and had difficulty turning off the ignition. His blood alcohol level was at .487 – six times the legal limit.

Man caught hiding in the trunk

Though nestled in the trunk of a friend’s car, a 21-year-old South Kingstown man could not elude officers. His adventures began when officers discovered a car driven by a female on the side of Route 1. They decided the driver, who was out of the car when officers discovered it, was not fit to drive. Both he, the passenger, and she, the driver, were given a ride home, but police were soon called to the man’s residence after receiving a call that he had kicked in his front door. Police couldn’t find him, but they were soon alerted by another officer that they had pulled over the same woman on Route 1. While officers were talking with her, they noticed an unusual amount of movement from the car. They opened the trunk, found the young man and relocated him to the back of a cruiser.

We’ve heard of pocket dialing, but pocket pictures?

One visitor to last week’s Rhode Island National Guard Open House & Air Show was allegedly photographing more than planes. North Kingstown police responded to the air show after a victim alleged that a stranger had attempted to take a picture under her skirt with his phone. The woman claimed she had never met the man before. Police spoke with the 36-year-old Lincoln resident, who allegedly admitted to taking pictures up women's skirts. At headquarters, he said he took the picture by accident and was planning to delete it. He described one of the photos as being of his girlfriend and another of a female's legs and tight shorts. He stated that the photos were not for sexual gratification and were a mistake when he was trying to “take his phone out of his pocket.” 

Surefire way to get arrested #87 – drive into a police cruiser

A North Kingstown police officer’s job was made a little easier when an alleged drunk driver came right up to him. The officer was engaged in a traffic stop on Post Road when a 39-year-old man rear-ended his police cruiser. Luckily, the officer was not injured, and the driver tested twice the legal limit.

Stolen electricity goes up in flames

A 25-year-old Newport woman made it pretty easy for police officers to arrest her after they responded to her apartment because the landlord said she was stealing electricity. First, they found an extension cord running from a locked boiler room going into the back door of her apartment. Then, after she told officers her electricity had been shut off but she had only been using the electricity for a “nightlight,” they found a television and fan plugged in and turned on. To top it off, when they asked her to pull the plug, she went one step further and cut the extension cord with a pair of scissors, touching off a small explosion and burst of flames.


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