Crime & Safety

Police Face Panty Thief, Blood Feud and a Messy Pot Grower

We compile the odd, unusual and 'oh my gosh' police items from throughout the region.

Panty thief is caught red-handed

An East Providence man is facing accusations that he filched $120 worth of his neighbor's panties. The woman arrived home to her apartment on Pawtucket Avenue at 1:22 a.m. Thursday and found that her front door was open. She saw an older white male in her living room, they exchanged words and he walked out.

She looked around her apartment and discovered that her underwear drawer was open and she was missing $120 worth of panties. She called 911 and police eventually found 11 pairs of panties on the suspect. The man admitted to police that he took the underwear.

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"Apparently, he gets gratification from the underwear," an East Providence lieutenant said.

‘Please ignore the mess … and the pot’

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A 37-year-old Woonsocket man tried to keep officers out of his third-floor apartment by saying it was too messy, but they overlooked the mess to nail him with $900 worth of pot, a grinder, a scale and $1,512 in cash. Officers were originally called to the third-floor apartment after someone reported bottles being thrown from the roof. When the tenant answered the door, he told officers someone had thrown a rock through his attic window and broken it, and denied throwing bottles. Police asked to see the window and the man said he would rather not show them because the area was messy. Once they entered the apartment, officers noticed a small marijuana grow operation with several young plants. 

He told officers he had a prescription for medical marijuana and produced a card from Colorado, saying that he had recently moved and was awaiting his Rhode Island card, which was in the mail. Instead of waiting for the card, police charged him with felony manufacture/delivery/possession of marijuana.

How much is this purse worth!?

A Newport taxi driver got nothing but a few blows to the face after her would-be passenger came up short on cab fare. A 30-year-old Newport woman was charged with simple assault/battery after she allegedly asked for a ride but had only $5 for a $6.50 fare. When the cabbie told the woman she would not give her a ride because she was drunk and didn’t have enough money, the woman allegedly hit the cabbie in the face several times with her purse and walked away.

Rest in peace, chivalry

A Barrington man was arrested after allegedly stopping his motorcycle on the Mt. Hope Bridge, throwing a woman off the bike and continuing the ride without her. Witnesses reported seeing the man stop his motorcycle, put the kickstand down, get off the bike and throw the woman to the ground. She sustained only minor injuries; he was charged with domestic, simple assault.

Don’t mess with Taco Bell

Four young adults messed with the wrong fast-food joint when they allegedly threatened Taco Bell employees one night in Middletown. The employees called the cops after the drive-thru customers threatened them and swore at them. When the police caught up with the car, they nabbed the driver for DUI and the three others for underage possession of alcohol. The four suspects told police they were “just messing with” the restaurant employees.

Family feud turns bloody

One man went to the hospital, another went behind bars, and a cat apparently went to a horrible end Wednesday night in Barrington, when police were called to a fight involving a 51-year-old man and his 28-year-old cousin and neighbor. When officers arrived, they found the younger man with several stab wounds, allegedly inflicted by the uncle with a small pocketknife. During arraignment the next morning, the uncle said his nephew claimed to have killed his uncle’s cat and fed it to his dog. The victim's wounds were not considered life-threatening.

The suspect was charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic disorderly conduct, and manufacturing and possessing an illegal substance. While on the scene, officers also seized six small marijuana plants.”

Hitting below the (fan) belt

A Tiverton man was arrested after he allegedly cut the brake lines on the vehicle of someone he had been arguing with. According to , the 19-year-old suspect and another person were arguing over money on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend. After the fight, the victim saw the suspect running away from his car. He checked the car, found the severed brake line and called police.

A relaxing day at the beach – not

Tiverton police arrested a Fall River woman who apparently refused to clean up her language and then became violent. According to police, the 36-year-old was at Grinnell’s Beach with a group of people and was yelling profanities. When another woman repeatedly asked her to stop the vulgarities, the suspect allegedly hit her several times in the face. She then tried to flee the area, but officers caught up to her a few miles up the road.

In this corner, Sledgehammer; In this corner, Leafblower

A 40-year-old North Kingstown man was so annoyed by his neighbor’s mid-afternoon leafblower, that he met noise with brute strength. He began by asking the 60-year-old neighbor to turn off her leafblower, and when the woman said she’d be done in a few minutes, he went back home, came back with a sledgehammer and yelled, “I’ll stop it!” before hitting his front stairs with the sledgehammer. As officers placed him in the police cruiser following the arrest, the man allegedly told the officer, “I was only going to hit the blower, not her.”


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