Police Log

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Johnston Police. Chief Richard S. Tamburini or Deputy Chief Daniel Parrillo has reviewed all reports

POSSESSION

Patrolman Derrick Palazzo reports he was on patrol on Greenville Avenue around 10:20 a.m. on June 14 when he saw a Ford Ranger take a turn onto Greenville Avenue from Belvedere without stopping or making a turn signal and proceed at a high rate of speed.

He said he pulled the car over and noticed that the driver was “nervous and fidgety” and sweating. He said the driver told him he was going to be late for his appointment at a methadone clinic and it would be closing in 10 minutes.

Palazzo said he saw a large pocket knife on the passenger seat and asked the driver if he had more weapons in the car. He said the driver told him he did and began to reach for his waistband.

Palazzo said he then told the driver to put his hands on the steering wheel where he could see them, but the driver disregarded what he said and continued to reach. Palazzo said he realized that the driver did not know that the knife had already fallen out of his waistband and onto the passenger seat, but he again insisted that he put his hands on the steering wheel and the driver finally complied.

Palazzo said he collected the knife and asked for another patrolman to come to the scene. He said they got the driver out of the car and found a box with white powder and a white pill inside, and asked him who they belonged to and was told the driver’s girlfriend at first and then his mother later on. Palazzo said the knife, with a four-inch blade, was confiscated.

Matthew R. King, 25, of 11 Belvedere Ave., was charged with operating on an expired license, operating while in possession of a controlled substance, possession of an illegal weapon other than a firearm, running a stop sign and not using a turn signal. He was later released with a summonses for District Court and Johnston Municipal Court. 

CHECKED OUT

Acting on a tip, Patrolman Mario Mennella reports he and another patrolman went to the Bel-Air Motor Inn at 2154 Hartford Ave. to arrest a man wanted by Cumberland police under the 24-hour domestic assault rule.

Cumberland had put out a be-on-the-lookout notice earlier, and Rhode Island State Police reported seeing the vehicle on Route 6, just west of Atwood Avenue. Mennella and Patrolman Andrew Broccoli checked the register of the motel and learned that Stephen Edward Nelson, 33, of 7 Wyoming Drive in Cumberland, had checked into Room 5.

Mennella said Nelson answered the door and was taken into custody without incident.

LOSING BID

Patrolman Joseph McGinn reports he was advised of a larceny from a construction site on Green Earth Avenue at roll call on June 13. A suspect was seen stealing fence posts from the site and loading them into a tan striped green pickup truck and fleeing with them around 6:30 p.m. the night before.

McGinn said he was on patrol around 7 p.m. later that day and heard dispatch say that a witness phoned in that the pickup truck came back to the construction site, and requested that police respond and hold the driver for the theft the day before. The patrolman said he was on his way when dispatch informed him that the truck had left the site and was being followed by the witness as it headed west on Shun Pike.

McGinn said they followed the trail until they stopped the suspect in the vicinity of 2177 Plainfield Pike. The operator of the pickup was identified as Raymond T. Defusco, 56, of 4 Ray St. in Johnston. The witness from the day before arrived at the scene and reportedly identified Defusco as the man seen loading the galvanized fence posts into the pickup truck the day before.

McGinn said Defusco immediately confessed and explained to him that he was a self-employed fence installer and recently lost a bid to put up the fences on Green Earth Avenue to another contractor. He said he was driving by the site the day before to see how things were going and saw three of the posts on the ground unattended, along with a box of aluminum post caps, and loaded them into the pickup. He said he brought the posts to a storage area he used on Centre Street, planning to use them at a later date. He said he came back that day to see if he could get some more posts. Johnston detectives responded to the storage garage on Centre Street and recovered the posts and caps.

Defusco was charged with one count of larceny and held for arraignment.