Additional arrests made in connection with ATV incident

Cranston Police have made multiple additional arrests in connection with a highly publicized New Year’s Day incident involving a group of roughly 30 ATVs and motorcycles.

One of the latest people arrested – 28-year-old Central Falls resident Danilo Corrales – is alleged to have assaulted a police officer during the incident.

Others are facing lesser charges. Meanwhile, police say warrants have been issued for the arrest of two additional suspects.

The latest arrests come in addition to three made on Jan. 1 as a result of the response to the incident, which began on Atwood Avenue and included a pursuit through Johnston and Providence. Police have said the incident resulted in one officer being hospitalized with injuries, as well as damage to both a police cruiser and a citizen’s vehicle.

On Jan. 12, Cranston Police announced the arrest of 19-year-old Warwick resident Nicholas E. Zabawar Jr. on charges of vandalism and reckless driving/eluding police. According to police, Zabawar is the person seen “smashing out the rear window of a police cruiser with his helmet” during the Jan. 1 incident.

In a statement, police say Zabawar was arrested at his home on Sandlewood Avenue in Warwick after officials executed a search warrant.

“Detectives seized the red Honda motorcycle that Zabawar was operating during the incident,” the statement reads. “It was located by detectives in a detached garage on the property along with several pieces of evidence linking him directly to the crimes of vandalism and eluding police.”

Online court records show Zabawar’s bond was set at $3,000 personal recognizance. He is scheduled to appear in Third Division District Court on April 6.

Then, on Jan. 14, Cranston Police announced the arrests of Nicholas Capuano, 26, and Scott Campbell, 20, both of Warwick. Each was charged with reckless driving/eluding police for their alleged role in the Jan. 1 incident.

A statement from police reads: “Both individuals were part of a large organized group of ATV/Motorcycles that operated their motorcycles northbound on Atwood Avenue and refused to stop for police after an officer was intentionally struck. These two individuals operated recklessly around vehicles, passing vehicles at a high rate of speed and going the wrong way at times, pulling wheel stands and eluding police.”

The most recent update from police, dated Jan. 15, announces the arrest of Corrales in connection with the New Year’s Day incident. Corrales is charged with simple assault, obstructing an officer in the execution of duty, disorderly conduct, reckless driving/eluding police and driving with a suspended license, fifth offense.

According to police, a warrant for Corrales’s arrest had been issued Jan. 12. He was located in Pawtucket on Jan. 15 and taken into custody with the aid of the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force, police said.

Police allege that video of the Jan. 1 incident shows Corrales “operating a blue motorcycle … [and] circling a marked police cruiser and a uniformed police officer who is trying to effect an arrest in the roadway.”

The video then shows Corrales as he “rides up alongside the officer, intentionally kicks him and flees on the motorcycle,” police allege.

The statement from police indicates that Corrales, after being taken into custody, “admitted to his involvement and his assault on a Cranston Police Officer.”

Corrales was arraigned and released on $5,000 personal recognizance with a next scheduled court date of April 8.

The statement regarding Corrales’s arrest also indicates police have issued warrants for the arrest of two others, identified as Lisandro Galvin and Kuron Mitchell.

Galvin is wanted on charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer in the execution of duty and reckless driving/eluding police, according to the statement. Mitchell is wanted on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer in the execution of duty and reckless driving/eluding police.

In the Jan. 12 statement, Cranston Police Maj. Todd Patalano said: “These violators continue to deny and pass culpability while showing no signs to cease this dangerous and reckless behavior that continues to endanger the motoring public as well as themselves. We will continue to track down all violators of the law in this case and gradually we will apprehend all involved as we continue to investigate this incident. The Cranston Police has been contacted by many residents and witnesses who are fearful of this activity and have offered their assistance. The Cranston Police plan on making more arrests in this case as the investigation continues.”

Police: Parents left toddler in unlocked, unheated vehicle while shopping

Two parents are facing charges after allegedly leaving their 14-monthold child in an unlocked and unheated vehicle while shopping on the night of Jan. 16, according to Cranston Police.

Providence residents Tatiana Lowrie, 21, and Marvin Bastien, 35, are each charged with cruelty to or neglect of a child, Police Maj. Todd Patalano wrote in a Sunday email to members of the media. The Department of Children, Youth and Families has taken custody of the child, according to the major.

“Without an alert witness, this could have been a very different situation given the risks these parents took,” Patalano wrote. According to the major, officers responded to the Burlington store at 310 Garfield Ave. at approximately 6:40 p.m. on Jan. 16 for a report of a young child left unattended in a vehicle.

“A witness heard screaming in the vehicle and didn’t see any supervision,” Patalano wrote. A subsequent investigation determined the child had been left in the vehicle for more than 30 minutes while the two parents were shopping, according to the major.

Warwick man faces animal cruelty charges

A 61-year-old Warwick man is facing animal cruelty charges after the discovery of several animals living in “deplorable conditions” at a farm he owns in Coventry, according to a joint statement from Coventry Police and the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

David Pancarowicz is said to have turned himself in to Coventry Police on Jan. 14. He is charged with 10 counts of cruelty to animals and 10 counts of mistreatment of animals, and he is due to be arraigned in Third Division
District Court “within the upcoming months.”

According to the statement, Coventry Police officers, animal control officers, representatives of the RISCPA and members of the state veterinarian’s office responded to the farm at Twin Brook Lane in Coventry to execute a search warrant on Jan. 13.

Multiple animals were found without “access to adequate food or water,” the statement reads, “and some of the animals were found severely under weight.”

Five cows, four goats, a sheep, a donkey and a piglet were seized from the property, according to the statement. Two of the five cows were calves.

“The Coventry Police Department would like to thank the RISPCA and the RI State Veterinarian’s Office for their assistance in this case,” the statement reads. “All of the animals that were seized from the property are currently being held in foster care until the case is resolved.”

— Daniel Kittredge