Tuesday, January 2

8:13 a.m. – Police were unable to find a car driven by someone a caller described as “driving aggressively and erratically” on Middle Road and Route 2, according to police logs.

4:13 p.m. – An EG resident asked the police for help for her nephew, “whom she believes is in need of mental health assistance,” according to logs. An officer arrived and said there was “no immediate concern” but said they’d refer him to Thrive Behavioral Health.

Wednesday, January 3

2:01 a.m. – An EGPD officer told a driver to move their car out of the Washington Trust parking lot on Main Street.

7:55 a.m. – EGPD officers were unable to find an “erratic” driver who was driving in the Cindy Ann Drive area.

11:31 a.m. – Police investigated a report of a driver “revving the engine” and “driving fast through the neighborhood” near Lenihan Lane. 

3:48 p.m. – A concerned citizen gave police $150 they found in a white bank envelope in the EG High School parking lot.

6:10 p.m. – EGPD officers arrested an EG woman, 55, for cyberstalking and cyberharassment of her ex-husband’s wife over “child custody issues,” according to reports. While the woman’s ex-husband is “deployed overseas,” she has been requesting that his wife watch the child she and her ex-husband have together. The man’s wife showed police messages from the other woman that read in part: “You don’t get to reap the benefits of being a military spouse without also taking the obligations, sweetie.” In December, members of the EGPD responded to a “keep the peace” request regarding the woman. Police told her the other woman “does not have an obligation to take her daughter.” The woman began yelling and screaming, according to the report. The wife said numerous interactions with the other woman had caused her to “fear going outside her residence” because of the woman “unexpectedly showing up” and getting into a “verbal dispute.” 

Thursday, January 4

12:15 a.m. – An EGPD officer ticketed a driver on Main Street for driving with a suspended license and not displaying a license plate. During the traffic stop, the officer discovered it was the driver’s second offense for driving with a suspended license. The officer let the driver off with a warning about not having proof of insurance or registration. In addition to the citations, the officer had the car towed.

2:03 a.m. – Police officers pulled over a man driving 53 mph on Division Street near the 95N on-ramp. During routine checks, the officer found out the man has a suspended license in RI and Florida and an indefinitely suspended license out of North Carolina. Along with citing the man for speeding and driving with a suspended license, the officer had the car towed.

12:28 p.m. – Police officers helped the North Kingstown Animal Control Officer transport “some dogs” to Terre Mar Drive in North Kingstown. 

1:54 p.m. – EGPD officers investigated a “strange male at the bank” at Bank Newport on Division Street, according to police logs. No additional information was given.

6:19 p.m. – Officers found three men soliciting door-to-door on Westfield Drive without permits. A caller had spotted them on Miss Fry Drive earlier in the day. Police notified the company they work for that the men would need soliciting permits.

10:01 & 10:30 p.m. – EGPD officers arrested a Coventry man, 50, for DUI, and one of his passengers, a Providence woman, 47, for an active warrant out of Providence for failing to appear in court. Officers first noticed the car when the driver failed to use his blinker making the turn onto First Avenue. While following the car, routine checks showed the car owner did not have an active driver’s license. During the stop on Division Street near the 95N onramp, an officer noted the driver appeared nervous because “his hands, arms, and legs were shaking,” according to a report. The officer said he could smell alcohol on the driver’s breath and that the man’s lips were “covered in a white powdered substance.” The man said, “My lips are chapped,” and that he drank vodka tonics at his house before leaving his home “looking to get high.” At one point during the roadside sobriety tests, police reported the man said, “I can’t do this,” and almost fell over. The man refused to take a preliminary breath test at the scene or provide a blood sample for chemical testing during a brief trip to Kent Hospital due to officers believing that the man was having a panic attack after they arrested him. After police found a small bag of white powder on the man, he allegedly told police he “took a couple of hits of cocaine” that night. In addition to the DUI charge, police charged the man with possession of a controlled substance and refusal to submit to a chemical test. 

Friday, January 5

12:58 a.m. – EGPD officers issued a warning to a driver after a caller said the driver was speeding and “almost striking a pedestrian” on Division Street, according to logs. 

8:49 a.m. – A real estate agent accidentally set an alarm off at a Tillinghast Road house.

10:23 a.m. – An EG resident told police that someone he hired to “assist his IT issues” stole roughly $25,000 from his bank account. He said that when he confronted the man about it, he “agreed to make a few small payments but did not return the large majority of the money,” according to reports. The resident said he would speak with his lawyer before giving police a statement or pressing charges.

11:42 a.m. – Police officers notified a Ridge Road resident that their dog was barking.

4:58 p.m. – A Castle Street resident told EGPD officers that he had not received four items that “were reported as delivered by Amazon,” according to reports. The man said the four items were a computer mouse, headphones, a CPU cooler, and a 1TB SSD. He told police that Amazon did not send him a photo of the delivered package but said it had been dropped off. He does not have security cameras but claims multiple people were home, and no one saw items being delivered. The man said he wants a police report to seek a refund from Amazon.

7:01 p.m. –  A Bow Street resident told police that “a couple of people in dark clothing [were] acting suspiciously near his home,” according to logs. Police later found out it was a group of kids playing “manhunt.”

9:38 p.m. – EGPD officers took a Coventry woman, 43, into custody for allegedly shoplifting beef tenderloin, Kobe beef burgers, and a bottle of ginger ale from Dave’s Supermarket last June. The West Warwick police picked the woman up and drove her to the EGPD. In the arrest report, police wrote they were able to identify the woman after talking with her shopping companion, who ID’d the Coventry woman from the surveillance video. She told police  she didn’t realize the Coventry woman had taken the items.

11:01 p.m. – The owner of the Greenwich Hotel requested police check the validity of a patron’s  New York State driver’s license. The person left once he found out police were on the way. Police confirmed that the identification was fake. They were unable to find the patron after searching for him at other bars on Main Street. They took the fake ID into evidence.

Saturday, January 6

1:38 a.m. – EGPD officers arrested a Cranston woman, 34, for DUI after pulling her over for speeding on Division Street near the 95N onramp. During the stop, an officer noticed that the car’s registration expired last November and that the woman had “bloodshot, watery eyes,” according to reports. The woman told police she had “two glasses of wine” at a downtown restaurant. While the woman passed the “one-leg stand” test, there were indications of intoxication during other roadside sobriety tests, which prompted officers to request her to take a preliminary breath test. The result of that test was a .138 percent. Later, the results of her two breathalyzer tests at the station were both .097 (the legal limit is .08). In addition to the DUI charge, officers ticketed the woman for speeding and driving with an expired registration.

1:46 a.m. – EGPD officers drove two men who did not speak English back to the boat they’d been working on but now could not locate, according to police logs. The men were brought into the EGPD headquarters by a woman who was giving them a ride.

2:13 p.m. – An EG Free Library worker told police they believed a man had stolen DVDs from the library. When police tracked the man down, he showed them his backpack, which had no DVDs inside, and said that he “asked the female who works at the library if she wanted to check his backpack, which she refused,” according to reports. An officer “spoke with the clerk who stated that she had seen the male subject put items in his backway and then walk away.” The woman told police that the man said he did not have a library card. She later asked police to document the incident and asked pplice to issue the man a no-trespass order.

4:12 p.m. – EGPD officers performed a welfare check on an EG resident. According to police logs, the person checked out OK. 

5:10 p.m. – An EG resident told police a man she knows “may have overdosed,” according to logs. Police arrived to find the person in question “conscious,” and he told an officer that they were a couple and had just broken up and that the woman might be “retaliating against him.”

5:18 p.m. – A caller told police that a car struck their car while heading eastbound on Division Street. The person said the other car did not stop after hitting their car. They could not see the license plate or recall what vehicle type did the damage. 

Sunday, January 7

12:21 a.m. – Police removed a car from the roadway on River Farm Drive due to the parking ban.

12:42 p.m. – EGPD officers responded to a “parking call” about a car parked on Grandview Road during the parking ban.

12:06 p.m. – Police ticketed a parked car with its wheels on the curb on Main Street. 

3:54 p.m. – A Middle Road resident told police her miniature poodle got out of her yard.

4 p.m. – EGPD officers took a motor vehicle accident report on Middle Road. Additionally, they requested DPW help with ice on the roadway.

5:38 p.m. – A caller told police that a plow “left a large pile of snow in the roadway” on South County Trail. An officer notified the responsible parties.

6:13 p.m. – A caller told police plow trucks had blocked in a residential driveway on Wine Street. Police notified DPW.

9:09 p.m. – An EG resident told police that her mother, who lives with her, became violent with another family member. EGPD officers requested that the EGFD transport the woman’s mother to Rhode Island Hospital.

Andrew Belfry is a freelance reporter covering EG schools and police. He lives in town with his wife and two kids. Send him comments and tips at [email protected].