EDITOR'S NOTE: The following police log information has been taken from public record police incident reports provided by the Johnston Police Department.
POSSESSION
Around 10:30 a.m., Aug. 20, while on a fixed post at the Sky View Inn, 2880 Hartford Ave., Johnston Police Officer Cody Weaver spotted a gray Toyota truck exit the motel with no turn signal.
The truck drove west on Hartford Avenue and then turned into the Expresso’s Pizza parking lot with no turn signal.
Weaver turned on his cruiser’s overhead lights and conducted a motor vehicle stop in the parking lot.
“DMV files revealed that the vehicle has an expired registration,” Weaver wrote in the police incident report. “Upon walking up to the vehicle, I observed the passenger of the vehicle making movements by attempting to hide something under the passenger seat.”
While speaking to the driver, Weaver saw marijuana in plain sight in the center console of the vehicle. Another Johnston police cruiser arrived on the scene to assist.
Weaver asked both vehicle occupants to step out of the truck, due to the “movements under the passenger seat.”
The passenger was identified as Joshua D. Mclemore, of 527 Broadway FL, Apt. 1, Pawtucket.
The vehicle was searched, and under the passenger seat, police found a black bag, according to the incident report.
“In the black bag I found approximately 10 pills,” Weaver wrote. “I asked Mr. Mclemore what this substance was to which he replied, ‘it’s Ecstasy.’”
Mclemore was handcuffed and placed in the back of a cruiser.
The driver, whose identity had been edited from the report, was issued a summons for Driving with Expired Registration and Turn Signal Required. He was released from the scene.
Mclemore, however, was transported to Johnston Police Headquarters where he was processed, permitted to use the telephone and placed in a cell pending arraignment.
“The Ecstasy weighed 4.5 grams and tested positive with a NARC-II test kit,” Weaver wrote in the report. “Mr. Mclemore is being charged with Possession of Schedule I, II, III, IV, V (offenses).”
The charge is a misdemeanor. Police estimated the value of the drugs, which fall under the amphetamines/methamphetamines category, around $250.
“The marijuana found in plain sight was also confiscated as evidence,” Weaver wrote.
Mclemore was arraigned and released on $1,000 bail and given a Nov. 18 court date.
BENCH WARRANT
Around 6:30 p.m., Aug. 7, while on a fixed post at 525 Killingly St., Johnston Police Officer Thomas Santurri said he saw a car cross the center double yellow line and continue north.
Santurri pulled the car over near 629 Killingly St. and spoke to the driver. A passenger in the car was identified as William A. Mercado, of 95 Harrison St., Apt. 2, Pawtucket.
Santurri checked the driver and passenger’s identifications with the DMV and Rhode Island Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (RILETS). The driver came back clear, but Mercado was discovered to have an active Sixth District Court Bench Warrant for failing to appear at a pretrial conference stemming from a driving with suspended/revoked license originating out of the Pawtucket Police Department, Santurri wrote on the police incident report.
Mercado was removed from the vehicle and taken into custody, cuffed and transported back to police headquarters, where he was processed and held pending arraignment.
OBSTRUCTION
Around 4:30 p.m., Aug. 5, while parked at a fixed post at 1072 Plainfield St., Johnston Police Officer Thomas Santurri witnessed a car pass his location, traveling eastbound.
“I did not (observe) the passenger of the vehicle wearing his seat belt,” Santurri wrote in the police incident report. “I then detained the vehicle at the intersection of Plainfield Street and Silver Lake Avenue.”
Santurri spoke to the driver, and also a Hispanic male passenger, who said he did not have a Rhode Island driver’s license or any other means of identification, according to the report.
The passenger gave Santurri a name, but after cross-checking photos from other police records, it was determined the man was allegedly giving a false name, according to the report.
Santurri checked for a tattoo on the man’s chest, and did not find it, as police records indicated. After determining the man was actually David A. Diaz, of 59 Walnut St., Apt. 1, Johnston, Santurri confirmed there was an active no-contact order between the driver and Diaz.
“Mr. Diaz was then removed from the vehicle and I asked him why he was lying to me, to which he stated ‘I’m sorry, I’m David Diaz, we were just going to get food together,’” Santurri wrote in the report.
Diaz was cuffed and transported to police headquarters, where he was processed and held pending arraignment. Police charged
Diaz with a felony count of violating a no-contact order and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in execution of duty.
RECKLESS DRIVING
Around 5:42 p.m., Aug. 11, Johnston police officers were dispatched to 133 George Waterman Road, to investigate a motor vehicle crash with injuries.
Johnston Police Officer Manuel Perez spoke to the driver of one vehicle, who said that while traveling north on George Waterman Road, a second vehicle traveled from the southbound lane of travel into the northbound lane, striking his vehicle on the driver’s side front bumper and causing the vehicle to travel off the road and into a wooded area, according to the police incident report.
Perez wrote that he tried to speak with the driver of the second vehicle, but she appeared to be disoriented and could not answer his questions. Perez then spoke to a witness who said they witnessed the crash.
The witness told police that the second car was traveling south at a high rate of speed, approximately 50 miles per hour, and passed the left side of a vehicle traveling in front of it, crossing over the yellow center line, according to the report.
The witness told police the second car struck the first car’s front bumper, causing it to lose control and come to rest off the road.
The driver of the second vehicle was identified as Holly M. Biedugnis, of 555 Summer Place, Blackstone, Massachusetts.
Based on his investigation and the evidence, Perez issued citations for Overtaking on the Left, Conditions Requiring Reduced Speed and Reasonable and Prudent Speeds and Conditions. Perez said she was also subsequently charged with Reckless Driving and released with a District Court Summons to appear on Sept. 13.
FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE
At 5:22 a.m., Aug. 13, Johnston Police officers responded to Buttonhole Drive in reference to a suspicious vehicle, with Florida plates, parked in the area.
Upon speaking to the passenger, Johnston Police Officer Manuel Perez identified the man as Belter Giron, of 140 Hudson St., Apt. 2, Providence. A background check revealed Giron was wanted out of the Attleboro Police Department for being a fugitive form justice. Giron was arrested, cuffed and transported to police headquarters, where he was processed, afforded the right to make a phone call and secured in a cell pending arraignment, according to the police incident report.
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