Crime & Safety

One Town Gets Beaten, Battered & Bruised

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

You think your town had a bad week, check out North Kingstown. First, they discovered a man’s partially decomposed body in the back seat of a pickup truck that had been sitting in a public parking lot for a couple of weeks. Then this little storm called “Irene” rolled through, and if that wasn’t enough, a tornado touched down briefly in one neighborhood. The next day, two people were sent to the hospital after a house fire that started in a powerless home from either a gas grill or a candle. The next day, a nasty two-car accident forced firefighters to use the Jaws of Life to get the driver out of one smashed vehicle.

Lovers’ quarrel launches Coast Guard helicopter

Since emergency officials had nothing better to do at 2 a.m. Monday morning, when half the homes in southeastern New England were powerless, a 24-year-old woman decided to go for a swim in the ocean. She allegedly jumped in during a fight with her boyfriend, who though highly intoxicated, dove in to try to save her. When he couldn’t get to her, he ran to a nearby house and pounded down the door until someone answered and called 911. Firefighters threw the woman a lifejacket to keep her afloat, while a Coast Guard helicopter launched from Cape Cod. A rescue swimmer ultimately snatched the woman from the water, and she was taken to Rhode Island Hospital. Officers found a glass pipe with marijuana residue near where the couple had been sitting on the rocks.

Find out what's happening in North Kingstownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

High-speed chase with a baby on board
A 29-year-old man fled from a traffic stop in Johnston, drove up to 85 miles an hour while weaving through traffic and eventually got away when the officer stopped his pursuit in Cranston. The man was driving with an infant sleeping in the back seat. Police later arrested him in Warwick and hit him with a host of charges.

High-speed chase pauses to drop off the kids

Find out what's happening in North Kingstownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A 20-year-old Woonsocket man who was pulled over for a noise violation, sped away from police, drove up to 75 miles per hour through residential areas, ran through red lights and briefly got away. When the heat was off, the driver went to a friend’s house and dropped off two young boys, ages 4 and 6, who were in the car. The friend said no thanks, but the driver left the kids and fled. Officers caught up to him at his sister’s house, where he claimed the car had been stolen.

‘I was only planning to stab his bike
A 28-year-old Middletown woman was questioned after she was discovered walking through a public area wielding a knife. She told officers she only had the knife because she was planning to slash her husband’s bike tires. They arrested her for disorderly conduct.

Fake 911 call just to test the system
A Tiverton man called in a phony burglary last week because he wanted to test the response time of the town's 911 system and the police department. The 19-year-old placed the call while Tiverton officers were on the scene of a real armed robbery, and officers left that scene to respond to the man’s call. When pieces of his story didn’t seem to add up, the man admitted that he was worried about some guys from Fall River coming to get him, and he wanted to know how long it would take the cops to get there.

Fake $5 bill! Call in Little Compton SWAT!
Someone visited the Little Compton police station to turn in a fake $5 bill they had found in the grass at Goosewing Beach. Police said the matter is still under investigation with cooperation from the U.S. Secret Service. Really? The Secret Service? For 5 bucks?

‘Making it too easy for the cops,’ Case #724
A 44-year-old Tiverton man led himself right to police when he drove up to an officer to ask why there was no parking allowed in that area of Little Compton. The officer paused long enough from writing parking tickets to arrest the man for possession of marijuana – he could smell the pot coming from inside the car.

A little something to get through the storm
The average storm checklist includes bread, water, batteries and flashlights, but at the height of Irene’s fury, someone added to that list in Middletown. At around 2 pm on Sunday, Aug. 28, a man walked into a Rite Aid store, told a pharmacist he had a gun, demanded prescription drugs and fled with two bottles of Vicodin. He got away.


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