Police Log: Frauds, Scams and an Underwear Scare

FRAUD
On April 28, a Suffolk Drive resident told police that her house was listed for rent even though she had already rented her house and when she replied to the posting, she got an e-mail back offering the rental and a request to mail a security deposit.

Police said the woman told police she wanted the event documented in case someone is scammed and she is held liable. 

Also on April 28, police received a report from a Meadowland Drive woman who said she got a call on April 24 from the Macy's Fraud department telling her a $121 purchase was made on her Macy's American Express card.

The problem is that the woman said she never opened such a card and knew nothing about it until the call.

Police documented the incident.

ATTEMPTED B&E
North Kingstown Police are investigating the attempted breaking and entering of a Sachem Road house undergoing construction work that had been hit by a major copper theft three weeks earlier.

Police said they were called on April 29 by a contractor who said he was doing work at the house at 250 Sachem Road and after he left for the day, he got a call at around 5:30 p.m. advising him an alarm had been triggered.

He found an open window when he got back to the house but a locking mechanism prevented it from opening it enough for someone to get in.

Police said a check of the inside showed nothing was disturbed this time.

A neighbor told police he saw two teenagers wearing hooded sweatshirts walking into the woods at the end of Sachem Road around 5:15 p.m. They were described as having a medium build. One was wearing jeans, the other sweatpants. The neighbor did not see their faces since they were walking away.

DOMESTIC ISSUE
North Kingstown Police responded to an Essex Road address on April 28 after a report of an unwanted subject.
Police said the subject in question was the ex-girlfriend of the calling party who refused to leave until she spoke with her former boyfriend.
The woman eventually left the scene without incident and the resident of the house said he didn't need a no-tresspass order issued, though police said they'd document the incident either way.

DUIs
Police charged Carlos Lopez Perez, 31, of 21 Water St., Newport, with driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license April 28 after he was stopped for driving erratically.

Police said Rhode Island State Police issued a broadcast alerting area officers of a possible drunk driver at around 11:25 p.m.

A North Kingstown officer spotted the car and he was eventually pulled over on Route 138 after getting off of Route 1 after he was observed driving much slower than the 50mph speed limit on the highway.

Once stopped, Perez appeared drunk and failed a field sobriety test, police said. He later registered .229 and .237 blood alcohol readings in two preliminary breath tests at police headquarters.

Perez was arraigned at headquarters and released on $1,000 surety bail.

He was also cited for operating below the minimum speed.

MAILBOX DAMAGED
A Sylvan Court resident told police on April 30 that someone dragged her mailbox about 25 feet down the sidewalk after it had been removed from its fixture along the curb.

Police said the entire mailbox and post, including its cement base, had been ripped out.

The victim told police she noticed the damage when leaving her house at 5 a.m. to go to work. The mailbox was intact the day before when she checked it at around 3 p.m.

LOTTERY SCAMS
An elderly North Kingstown couple recently was subjected to a barrage of scam phone calls promising they'd won lotteries, police said.
 
The victims, both 84, told police they were told they could get the money as long as they went to Walmart and bought money cards to hand over the numbers on the back of each card.

Police took the report on April 30 and the victims said they've gotten in excess of 50 calls in the past two days.

While police were at the house, the phone rang three times and each time, the responding officer answered the phone and was told that there was a Mega Millions Prize for $10 million. The callers identified themselves as Bob Anderson, Robert Lawrence and Adam West even though they all had the same foreign accent and police believed they were the same person.

When police identified themselves, the caller reportedly became "extremely agitated and began to use profanities," according to a police report. 

The matter was documented.

UNDERWEAR SCARE
A Coventry man holding a pair of women's underwear in Ryan Park on May 3 prompted a call to police for suspicious activity but police said it appeared to be a misunderstanding.

Police spoke with the caller who said she saw a whiteman with a Five Guys shirt run in and out of the woods at Ryan Park and she thought she saw him with women's underwear in his hands. 

Police tracked the man down with a license plate number that led them to his girlfriend, who owns the car, and she said her boyfriend was driving at the time and was in the parking lot to pick her up from work at a nearby nursing home.

They then spoke with the man who said he went into the woods to urinate and saw the underwear on the ground on his way back. He said he didn't bring it nor knew who it belonged to.

VANDALISM
Police said Wickford Elementary was vandalized recently.

An officer conducting a building check noticed the damage early on May 4. A second floor window on the northeast corner of the building was shattered.

The rest of the building appeared secure and the Dept. of Public Works was notified.