Police Log: DUIs, B&E, Clerk Throws Change in Woman's Face

HERE’S YOUR CHANGE
North Kingstown Police charged Meredith A. McRae, 20, of 44 New Lexington Road, North Kingstown, with simple assault and disorderly conduct after she allegedly threw coins in a woman’s face while working behind the counter at 7-Eleven at 7330 Post Road May 31.

Police said the victim is a former employee and the pair have had previous conflicts.

According to a police report, the victim entered the store to buy Slurpees and the two women exchanged words. The victim then went to the Slurpee machine and handed McRae a $5 bill to pay for them. McRae then reportedly gave her back a pair of bills to the victim and then threw the coins, striking a bottom front tooth.

McRae was taken into custody without incident and was later released with a Third Division District Court summons for June 17.

Police said they confirmed the victim’s account by watching security camera footage.

SHOPLIFTING
Police charged Stephen Michael Whitelaw, 56, of 6101 Post Road, North Kingstown, with shoplifting June 2 after he allegedly stole five cans of Enfamil baby formula from the Walmart on Ten Rod Road.

Police said Whitelaw concealed the cans in a green Stop and Shop bag and put them on the bottom rack of his shopping cart. He did pay for eight other cans with a food stamp card. When stopped by store security on his way out, he reportedly “admitted that he intended to steal the five cans of formula,” according to a police report. 

B&E
A Pendar Road resident told police on June 1 that someone stole tools and fishing equipment from his garage sometime overnight.

Police said the culprit appears to have entered the garage through a window and stole a grinder, a pair of rods and reels, two tackle boxes filled with lures, a toolbox, filet knife and a drill master heat gun.

Police later found the heat gun in the resident’s yard.

The total value of the items is valued at more than $600.

Police are investigating. 

WALLET STOLEN
A Ten Rod Road Resident told police on May 28 that someone stole his wallet from the center console of his truck when it was parked outside his house sometime overnight.

The thief reportedly stole a $100 bill and $5 along with a license and health insurance card. 

CAR DAMAGE
A Congdon Avenue resident told police on May 31 that her car was damaged while parked in the Home Depot parking lot on May 31.

Police said the woman told them that she parked near the contractor’s entrance and didn’t notice the damage until a short while after returning home.

A police investigation determined that the damage appears to have been caused by an orange push cart used at the store.

The matter was documented.

DOMESTIC
Police charged Jeffrey Laychak, 28, of 205 Laurel Ridge Lane, North Kingstown, with domestic vandalism and domestic disorderly conduct May 29 at 10:34 p.m.

DUIs
Police charged Ronald R. Macomber, 57, of 295 Frenchtown Road, East Greenwich, with driving under the influence June 2 at around 10 p.m.

Police said Macomber was stopped for driving 50 mph in a 35 mph zone on Post Road and swerving in and out of his lane multiple times.

Macomber reportedly failed a field sobriety test after telling police he had a “couple beers” throughout the day.

He also refused a chemical test.

Officers reported finding a number of empty beer cans inside Macomber’s car and he was transported to the hospital after telling police that he had consumed Vicodin.

Police charged David Burrett Brennan Jr., 39, of Ravena, N.Y., with driving under the influence and refusing a chemical test June 1 at 10:27 p.m.

Police said the stopped Brennan on Roger Williams Way after a report that he had left an area establishment while highly intoxicated.

Police said Brennan showed signs of intoxication and failed a field sobriety test.

A 28-year-old Coventry man is lucky to have walked away unharmed from a crash at the intersection of Route 4 and Tower Hill Road in North Kingstown June 2 after witnesses told police he was driving erratically at speeds upwards of 85 mph.

Police subsequently charged Joshua Tyler White, of 143 Bowen Hill Road, Coventry, with driving under the influence after responding officers concluded he was drunk when the accident occurred.

Police were dispatched to the intersection at around 1:36 p.m. for a report of a possible rollover and found White sitting near his car, a 2009 Nissan Sentra that was resting on its driver's side against the tree line on the northbound side of Tower Hill Road.

White reportedly told police he had three beers at Charlie O's in Narragansett and was driving to his friend's house in North Kingstown when the accident happened, telling officers he was driving about 60 to 65 mph when he lost control of his car and struck the guard rail. 

But witnesses at the scene told police White, along with another driver in a red sedan, were both driving fast and erratically on Tower Hill Road.

One witness said that it looked like White was driving upwards of 85 mph when the crash happened.

The witness stopped and went to check on the wreck when White reportedly got out. 

White reportedly registered a .145 and .149 in two preliminary breath tests at police headquarters.

Along with the DUI charge, police cited White for speeding, failing to maintain proper control of a vehicle and a laned roadway violation. 

The car was towed from the scene by BelleVille Towing.

White is due to appear in Third Division District Court on June 17. 

While police were still at the scene, they saw a red Nissan Sentra approach and Conor Wilson, 25, of 119 Cattail Lane, North Kingstown got out, telling officers he was driving behind White when the crash happened. 

Wilson said White was his friend and also said he was drinking at Charlie O's before the crash but denied speeding. 

Police said Wilson smelled like alcohol and he too was charged with driving under the influence after failing a field sobriety test.

Wilson was also charged with refusing a chemical test.

On May 29, police charged Heidi L. Riteau, 42, of 694 Ten Rod Road, North Kingstown, with driving under the influence after she allegedly was seen by an officer on Post Road as she pulled out of All American Bar and Grill at 1 a.m. and drove in the wrong lane on Post Road before correcting herself.

Police said once stopped, Riteau smelled like alcohol and failed a field sobriety test.

She later refused a chemical test at police headquarters.