BIKE VS. SUV

A bicyclist is in critical condition after a crash with an SUV Tuesday night.

According to Warwick Police, around 9:31 p.m., Tuesday, June 11, officers were dispatched to the area of West Shore Road and Yates Avenue for the report of a “car vs bicyclist crash.”

Police found a 58-year-old man on the ground in the parking lot of the Shell Gas Station.

“The male appeared to be unresponsive,” police said in a press release authorized by Capt. Robert T. Hart, of WPD’s Community Services Division. “Warwick EMS personnel transported the male to Kent Hospital with CPR in progress. EMS and hospital staff were successful in regaining a pulse and the male was transferred to RI Hospital in critical condition.”

The Warwick Police Department Traffic Units’ Accident Reconstruction Team responded to the scene.

According to investigators, a white Chevy Traverse SUV operated by Kathleen Augustyn, 61, of Warwick, was traveling east on West Shore Road before making a left turn into the entrance of the Shell Gas Station at 2211 West Shore Road.

The 58-year-old bicyclist, who was traveling west, collided with the Traverse and was thrown from the bicycle, according to police.

“The operator of the vehicle remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation,” police said. “Speed and alcohol do not appear to be contributing factors. Identification of the victim is being withheld until family has been notified. This is an active investigation. No charges are pending at this time.”

WPD’s Accident Reconstruction Team is leading the crash investigation. They’ve asked “anyone who witnessed the crash or has information” to contact the Traffic Unit at 401-468-4200 (anonymous tips can also be submitted via the WARWICKPD app or text WARWICKPD to 847411).

ROBBERY

On June 4, the Kent County Superior Court returned an indictment charging Frank Rogowski, Sr., 55, West Warwick, with one count of first-degree robbery and one count of eluding the police.

According to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, the alleged acts occurred in Coventry on Nov. 19, 2023. The Coventry Police Department conducted the investigation.

The defendant is scheduled to be arraigned on June 28, in Kent County Superior Court.

BENCH WARRANT

Around 6:30 p.m., May 6, Warwick Police were dispatched to the Wyatt Detention Facility at 950 High St., Central Falls, to pick up an inmate who had an active bench warrant out of the Warwick Police Department. Police took custody of Brandon C. Andreason, 35, of 121 Burbank St., Cranston. He was held on an active Third District Court bench warrant.

DUI

At 2:17 a.m., May 11, Warwick Police Officer Robert S. Macera was on a stationary traffic post in Airport Plaza, facing Airport Road when he spotted a Black 2020 GMC Terrain with no front license plate “traveling at a high rate of speed.” He followed the vehicle, estimated its speed around 46 miles per hour and initiated a traffic stop.

Police identified the driver as Steven Medeiros Jr., 24, of 350 Adelaide Ave., Providence.

“I immediately noted Medeiros to have red bloodshot watery eyes and his speech was thick tongued and he spoke in a slow drawn out manner,” Macera wrote. “I also detected a faint odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath.”

The driver allegedly told police he had been at a Cranston bar called “The Joint.” He also allegedly told police that he had “smoked a few hours ago.”

Police asked the driver to consent to a series of standardized field sobriety tests. He refused. Police called another unit to the scene. They placed Medeiros under arrest.

Police transported Medeiros to the Warwick Police Headquarters, where he refused to take a chemical breath test.

Medeiros was charged with DUI of Liquor (BAC unknown, first offense), and he was cited with Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test (first offense), Speeding (11+ mph in Excess of the Posted Speed Limit), and Display of Registration Plates.

DUI

Around 10:24 p.m., May 12, Warwick Police responded to the area of Narragansett Parkway and Country Club Drive for the report of an erratic driver. Two witnesses were on the scene and they wanted to speak to police.

Police spoke to one witness who told them he followed a Honda Accord that was “all over the road” from Pawtuxet Village. The witness made contact with the driver after he stopped his vehicle.

Police identified the alleged erratic driver as Luis D. Rivera Cordero, 46, of 277 Massachusetts Ave., Providence. His vehicle was stopped in the center of Narragansett Parkway’s southbound lane of travel. The engine wasn’t running. According to police, Cordero spoke with “extremely slurred speech and was difficult to understand.”

Police asked Cordero to consent to a series of standardized field sobriety tests. He agreed.

Following the tests, he was arrested and charged with DUI of Liquor (BAC unknown, first offense), and he was cited with Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test (second offense).

EMBEZZLEMENT

Around 6:45 p.m., Warwick Police Officer Gian A. Micheletti was dispatched to Apple Cinema at 400 Bald Hill Road for the report of embezzlement.

Theater management informed police that they allegedly caught an employee stealing on camera. Police identified the employee as Talasia Monique Bliss, 21, of 24 Sadler St., North Providence.

Police viewed video surveillance that allegedly showed Bliss taking money from the cash register. Theater management gave police a description and told them she had walked to nearby Target. They told police that the register was $50 short.

Police caught up with Bliss in the Target parking lot. They say they first found $5, and then found $44 more in her waistband. Police seized the cash and arrested Bliss.

“Once they confirmed she concealed the money, they confronted her in the office to terminate her,” Micheletti wrote in the arrest report. “They also gave her the option to give the money back or they would prosecute. She denied stealing the money, and at this time staff contacted police.”

Bliss was charged with a misdemeanor charge of Embezzlement and Fraudulent Conversion (less than $100).

CHILD ABUSE

Following trial, a Massachusetts man was convicted of multiple counts of child molestation, following a Warwick Police investigation.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced the conviction of a Massachusetts man by a Kent County Superior Court jury. The defendant was found guilty of sexually assaulting a male victim under the age of 14 between 2007 and 2009 in Warwick.

“I appreciate the efforts of our detectives and prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Office on their successful investigation and prosecution of this offender,” said Warwick Chief of Police Col. Bradford Connor. “These cases are tremendously difficult on the families involved and the greater community. It is my hope that this guilty verdict will help in the continuous healing process for the victim and his loved ones”

On June 5, following the conclusion of a three-day jury trial before Superior Court Justice Luis M. Matos, the jury found Joao Soares, 32, guilty of seven counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of second-degree child molestation.

The defendant is currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) pending a sentencing hearing scheduled in Kent County Superior Court on Aug. 23,according to the AG’s office.

 “Sexual assaults against children at the hands of a trusted adult remains an ongoing and devastating problem in Rhode Island,” Neronha said. “Child molestation forever alters a child’s life and may have lasting ramifications well into adulthood. I commend the courage of the victim in this case for his bravery in coming forward to seek justice. I am grateful to the Warwick Police Department for their outstanding work during the investigation and prosecution of this case.”

During the trial, the prosecution “proved beyond a reasonable doubt that between 2007 and 2009, the defendant sexually assaulted a male victim, under the age of 14 and known to him, at a home in Warwick,” according to a press release from the AG’s office.”

“In 2020, the victim came forward to report the abuse that occurred when he was between the ages of seven and 10,” according to prosecutors.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorneys General Arthur DeFelice and Douglas Ciullo. Warwick Police  Sgt. Nate Chea and Detective Joseph DeDonato (retired) led the investigation.