‘SIDE JOBS’

Officer Ross Manzotti reports that he became suspicious when he spotted a man using a flashlight to peer into a car on Paine Avenue around 2:45 a.m. on May 22. He said the car was parked in an unlit part of the street and the man began to walk away. He said the man was wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head.

Manzotti said several larcenies and a break-in at Lotus Foods Inc. on Wellington Avenue had been reported in the area and he wanted to speak with the man because he looked like the male subject caught on camera at Lotus Foods. The officer said the man answered his questions evasively, and claimed he had a friend who lived in the area and that he was calling his sister who was looking for him in the area to take him back to West Warwick before he finally admitted he had no friends in the area. He said the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and moved his hands toward his pockets several times.

Manzotti said the man told him he had no weapons, but a terry pat search turned up a folding knife, a flashlight, a pair of gloves and a screwdriver. The officer said he asked the man why he had those items on his person. The man reportedly claimed the flashlight was for the dogs that bark at him, the black gloves, which were not “work” gloves, were because he likes them and the screwdriver was for work and he carried it all the time on the chance he might get some “side jobs.” The man also reportedly said he just carried the knife because he liked to.

Manzotti said a check revealed a number of priors on the man’s BCI record. Stephen Rathbun, 37, of 30 Wakefield St. in West Warwick, was charged with possession of burglary tools and held for arraignment.

‘WHAT WOULD

YOU DO…?’

As if responding to the question posed in televisions ads for Klondike Bars, a Knightsville Manor resident is accused of punching a neighbor in the face after the neighbor told him he didn’t have a Klondike Bar to give him.

A witness told police he saw both men in the elevator around 12:55 p.m. on May 22 when Vincent V. Gamba, 61, punched the victim in the face after he was told he would not get the frozen ice cream treat. Another witness also told police the same story and said that Gamba “got beat up in return.”

Officer Wayne Russell reports that Gamba was charged with hitting a parson with a physical impairment because the victim was recovering from a stroke and had “substantial limitation of his mobility” as a result of it, according to Russell. Russell reports arresting Gamba in another neighbor’s apartment and taking him to headquarters, where he was charged and held for arraignment. The property manager for the Manor told Russell she would make a copy of the surveillance video and turn it over to police.

ADMIRATION

Despite of being charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license, hit-and-run and obstruction an officer, a Cranston man reportedly expressed his admiration for the arresting officer’s persistence and speed in the foot chase that ensued after a disorderly incident at the Citgo gas station at 480 Pontiac Ave. on May 21.

Officer Austin Smith reports he got the call about the disturbance at around 5:50 a.m. and arrived to find the suspect, in a white T-shirt, shorts and sunglasses, yelling to himself on the sidewalk and at passing cars. He said the man stopped when he saw Smith get out of his cruiser and looked confused when Smith asked him if he was all right. He said the man didn’t answer but responded by running down the street toward Blackamore Avenue.

Smith said he gave out his location over his radio as he pursued the man, who was now running through yards and startling passers-by as he continued to yell as he ran. Smith said he saw the man fall down and run through fences before he lost sight of the man but heard that other officers had apprehended him on Blackmore Avenue.

Smith said the man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs and was drooling and mumbling incoherently. He said the suspect, identified as Mark T. Fuscaldo, of 30 Howard Ave. in Cranston, continued to be resistant during his arrest and booking but eventually laughed and told Smith he liked him because the officer “had never given up while chasing him.” He was also held on a warrant as a probation violator.

DUI AND REFUSAL

Officer Lee Sohn reports working a DUI enforcement detail around 1:55 a.m. on May 18 when he saw a Dodge Magnum going down Dyer Avenue with no lights on. He said he saw the vehicle take a left onto Alto Street without a signal.

Sohn said he followed the car as it proceeded erratically down several streets before it pulled into a driveway on What Cheer Avenue. He said he found a man sitting on a woman who was in the passenger seat, who told him he was not driving the car. He said the driver’s seat was in a position that was consistent to height and size of the woman, and she reportedly did admit she had been driving the car. He said the man and woman were both intoxicated, but he asked the woman to take a field sobriety test. The officer said the woman failed the field test and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and she then began to deny she had been driving the car, but so did the passenger. He said a check on the woman’s BCI record disclosed a DUI charge in 2011 to which she pleaded no contest and had served 20 hours community service, paid $500 fine, served a five-month suspension of her license and attended mandatory DWI school.

Sohn said he arrested Diana Hernandez, 312, of 50 Pocasset Ave. in Providence, and charged her with DUI and refusal after she would not take a breath test at headquarters. She was also charged with operating an unregistered car with no proof of insurance.

Apparently, no alcohol was involved in a DUI charge on May 16 after Officer Anthony Sassone McHugh arrested a man after an accident near Victoria Court at around 6 p.m. The driver of the other vehicle told Sassone McHugh he could smell marijuana coming from the car that he hit as it turned abruptly into Victoria Court.

The officer said he came to the same conclusion when he spoke with the driver of 2013 Hyundai Sonata, who admitted he had smoked marijuana and showed Sassone McHugh his medical marijuana card, which he said he got after being stabbed by his girlfriend and sustained injuries that were treated with prescription drugs and marijuana. The officer said the man complained of back pain and was strapped to a stretcher by Cranston Rescue and was not able to take a complete field sobriety test, but was administered a blood test at Rhode Island Hospital after prescriptions for oxycodone and two other drugs were found in the car.

Timothy A. Stewart, 24, of 43 Simpson St. in North Providence, was charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license.