Police Digest

Posted 6/5/19

Husband, wife charged after multi-town chase A husband and wife from Warwick are facing charges after police say their vehicle ran over an officer's foot and led local law enforcement personnel on a high-speed car chase from Cranston to East Greenwich.

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Police Digest

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Husband, wife charged after multi-town chase

A husband and wife from Warwick are facing charges after police say their vehicle ran over an officer’s foot and led local law enforcement personnel on a high-speed car chase from Cranston to East Greenwich.

Patricia Chivers, 33, 168 Underwood Ave., Warwick, is charged with assault, reckless driving/eluding a police officer in a high-speed pursuit, obstructing an officer in the execution of duty and operating with a suspended license.

Matthew Chivers, 29, of the same address, is charged with obstructing an officer in the execution of duty.

According to Cranston Police, the incident began when officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked in a field on Laten Knight Road in the western part of the city at approximately 7 a.m. on May 30. The reporting party told dispatchers that the two occupants of the vehicle appeared to be unconscious.

At the scene, officers located a silver Nissan sedan with Connecticut registration. After they made contact with the occupants, the operator – later identified as Patricia Chivers – suddenly drove off, and in doing so ran over the foot of one of the officers with the vehicle.

Police pursued the vehicle onto Hope Road and then into Scituate, Coventry, West Warwick and East Greenwich. Officers terminated the pursuit on Route 2 in East Greenwich “due to traffic congestion and an increase in speed,” according to Cranston Police.

As officers continued down Route 2, they saw the vehicle had crashed into another vehicle while turning west onto Frenchtown Road. Patricia Chivers was apprehended quickly, while Matthew Chivers fled into the woods off Frenchtown Road. He was apprehended by East Greenwich Police and Rhode Island State Police at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts a short time later.

The operator of the second vehicle in the accident at Route 2 and Frenchtown Road was transported to Kent Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The officer whose foot was run over was treated and later returned to duty.

Patricia and Matthew Chivers are both additionally charged with three counts each of fraudulent use of credit cards, over $100, and conspiracy in connection with the alleged use of a stolen debit card to make purchases at Cranston businesses in January of this year.

Patricia Chivers was arraigned Friday, and her bail was set at $10,000 bond with surety on the charges related the May 30 incident and $5,000 bond with surety on the January charges. She was ordered held for violating the terms of her bail in the latter case. Records indicate she entered no plea during her appearance and she was referred to a public defender.

Cranston Police say Patricia Chivers was additionally presented as a bail violator in connection with an April charge out of Cranston for fraudulent use of a credit card, and that she was wanted on a bench warrant issued from Superior Court at the time of her latest arrest.

Matthew Chivers arraigned Friday and ordered held on $1000 bond with surety on the May 30 charges and $5,000 bond with surety on the January charges. He was also ordered held for violating the terms of his probation related to a previous case.

Bank robbery suspect arrested at Mass. casino

A man suspected of being involved in a string of recent bank robberies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts – including a late April heist in Cranston – has been arrested.

On May 30, East Providence Police announced that 36-year-old Joseph Hickson of Walpole, Massachusetts, was taken into custody by Massachusetts State Police at Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville.

East Providence Police had issued a warrant for Hickson’s arrest on a charge of first-degree robbery, on which he is currently being held as a fugitive from justice in Massachusetts. Additional warrants were said to be pending from police in Cranston and Franklin, Massachusetts.

According to East Providence Police, the bank robbery in their community occurred at the Washington Trust Bank on Newport Avenue on May 28. During their investigation, police learned of similar recent incidents in Cranston and Franklin and found the description of the suspect in the three cases was a match.

Hickson was subsequently identified as the suspect and a warrant was issued for his arrest. With assistance from Walpole Police detectives, East Providence Police are said to have executed search warrants at Hickson’s residence and for vehicle the vehicle he is alleged to have used in the robberies.

Police said the FBI and the Rhode Island attorney general’s office provided support in the investigation.

The Cranston robbery occurred on the afternoon of April 28 at the TD Bank location at 178 Phenix Ave. The suspect is said to have handed a teller a note claiming he was armed and asking for money. He then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was injured in the incident.

RISP: DUI suspect’s vehicle struck fire truck

A Cranston man was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence during the early hours of May 28 after his vehicle struck a Providence Fire Department truck on Interstate 95, according to Rhode Island State Police.

Emmanuel D. Cabrera, 31, of 79 Vermont St., was also charged with refusal to submit to a chemical test, according to State Police. He was additionally cited for conditions requiring reduced speed.

The incident occurred at approximately 1:15 a.m., State Police said. Cabrera’s vehicle is said to have been traveling north when it struck the fire truck, which was parked in the highway’s northbound lanes near Memorial Boulevard. Its emergency lights were activated at the time as it assisted with an unrelated crash.

The truck sustained minor damage and no one was injured, according to State Police.

State Police reported arresting four people on driving under the influence charges over the Memorial Day weekend. The agency also issued 267 citations and warnings.

3 hurt in I-295 crash

Three people sustained non-life-threatening injuries and a portion of Interstate 295 in Johnston was closed for nearly three hours as a result of a crash on Monday, according to Rhode Island State Police.

The accident occurred just north of Exit 7 in Johnston. State Police say two trucks owned by Mike’s Professional Tree Services in Coventry were traveling north when the first – a bucket/pole truck – slowed for traffic. It was then struck from behind by the second truck, which was towing a trailer holding a wood chipper. The first truck was flipped on its side, blocking travel lanes, while the second truck went off the road into an embankment.

Cranston rescue personnel transported the operator and passenger of the first truck to Rhode Island Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and took the operator of the second vehicle to the hospital with minor injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

-- Daniel Kittredge

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