Johnston Police Log, Aug. 25, 2022

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following police log information has been taken from public record police incident and arrest reports provided by the Johnston Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies.

DUI PATIO CRASH

Around 7:20 p.m., July 26, Warwick Police responded to Grid Iron Ale House, at 1599 Post Road, for the report of a motor vehicle crash.

“One of the reporting parties, advised that a male, whom she believed to be intoxicated, drove into the front outdoor patio at this location,” Warwick Police Officer Derek J. Hagopian wrote in the arrest report.

A patron of the business reported took the keys away from the driver, who was currently sitting in the bed of the involved vehicle, a red Dodge Ram 1500.

“The operator was described as a white male, bald, wearing sunglasses and a construction uniform,” Hagopian wrote. “Dispatch advised that no injuries were reported, but there had been four people on the patio at the time of the incident. A second calling party stated that the operator threw a beer can out the window of the red pickup truck while driving off of the highway, before pulling into the parking lot.”

The driver was identified as Raymond Rogala, 40, of 10 Simmons St., Johnston.

“Upon making contact with Rogala, I observed that his eyes were moderately red, blood shot, and watery,” Hagopian wrote. His speech was heavily slurred as I spoke with him. I detected a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from Rogala’s breath as he spoke. I asked Rogala if he had anything to drink on this night in question, to which he replied that he had ‘a couple’ beers.”

Rogala consented to a series of standardized field sobriety tests. Following the tests, he was taken into custody and transported to Warwick Police Headquarters.

He refused a chemical breath test.

“It should be noted that, throughout the duration of Rogala in police custody, his speech was heavily slurred and he was unsteady on his feet,” Hagopian wrote. “I continued to detect the moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath as he spoke.”

Rogala was fingerprinted, photographed and secured in a cell. He was charged with DUI of Liquor (BAC Unknown, first offense) and received a citation for Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test (first offense).

FENTANYL

Around 11:58 a.m., Aug. 3, Warwick Police Officer David L. Boardman was on routine patrol on stationary traffic enforcement, parked in the center median on Route 2 across from the At Home shopping plaza entrance, when he spotted a black F150 pick-up truck drive past with a “heavily bent” front plate. The truck also had no inspection sticker and the plate was registered to a 2005 white Dodge, and had been canceled since 2017.

“I then got behind the vehicle in traffic and observed the operator to constantly be looking into his rear and side view mirrors at my cruiser behind him, which took his eyes off the road causing him to veer over the marked traffic lane to the lane next to him,” Boardman wrote in the arrest report. “The male continued to drive north while watching me in his side view mirror.”

Boardman conducted a traffic stop just north of the BJ’s Brewhouse restaurant on Route 2. He spoke to the driver and informed him he was stopped for “numerous violations.”

The driver, who police identified as Raymond J. Zinno, 28, of 42 Shore Drive, Johnston, allegedly went into a “long, drawn out story about the vehicle.”

Boardman wrote that Zinno said he was “driving it back to his house on the Scituate/Johnston line, and that he had just been pulled over recently by State Police and had his vehicle searched.”

“While speaking with the male, I observed him to be profusely sweating through his all black T-shirt, which I could actively see a sweat ring around his neck area from the amount of sweat that was dripping down his neck and from his face,” Boardman wrote, noting that the vehicle’s air-conditioning was “actively running.”

The driver allegedly told police that he had just been to “drug court” and that he had recently been pulled over by State Police “and had his vehicle searched.”

Boardman noticed a box of Narcan — a medicine administered to drug-users who overdose as an antidote to opioid drugs — on the front passenger seat. He asked Zinno why he had Narcan in the vehicle.

Zinno referred back to his “court situation in drug court” and “stated that he has had drug issues as of late.”

“At this time, due to the fact the male had no positive ID on his person and his truck being actively unregistered, and how nervous the male was acting, I asked him to step out of the vehicle so that I could speak to him on the sidewalk and further collect his information,” Boardman wrote.

Zinno seemed to be hiding his pack of cigarettes from Boardman, according to the arrest report. Police confirmed that his license was suspended and he had two previous convictions for driving on a suspended license.

Eventually police opened Zinno’s cigarette box.

Boardman allegedly found “two baggies containing a white powdery substance” believed to be fentanyl. Zinno also allegedly told police the baggies contained fentanyl.

Zinno was arrested and transported to Warwick Police Headquarters where he was booked and processed on two charges: one count of Possession of Schedule 1-5 Controlled Substance (10 grams or less) and a count of Driving on a Suspended License (third offense).

The drugs were field tested and weighed 1.6 grams. Zinno received a court date and was released without incident, according to police.