EMBEZZLEMENT

At 11 a.m., April 26, Warwick Police Officer Nia L. Pina responded to Kohl’s Department Store, 650 Bald Hill Road, for investigate a reported embezzlement.

Pina met with a loss prevention supervisor at the store and was told that a cashier’s register showed a shortage of $279.15.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage, loss prevention noticed alleged actions by store associate Rebecca Groves, 21, of 676 Providence St., First Floor, West Warwick. Police said Groves rung up a gift card to herself for $75 and did not pay, but took cash out of the drawer.

“(Loss prevention) stated that Groves kept the register open and took out a handful of large bills and put them in her pocket,” Pina wrote in the arrest report. Police used video surveillance to verify the claims.

She then rang up another gift card for $50 about 20 minutes later, and a $100 Amazon gift card five minutes after that, according to the arrest report.

“Groves put everything in her pocket and never paid,” Pina wrote. “The total register shortage was $279.15.”

Loss prevention told police that they fired Groves on April 26, and that Kohl’s wished to pursue criminal charges.

At 5:43 p.m., May 28, Warwick Police were dispatched to the Woonsocket Police Department to pick up Groves, who had been apprehended by that department. She was transported back to Warwick, fingerprinted, photographed and secured in a cell.

Groves was transported to the ACI and left in their “care and custody,” according to police.

DUI

Around 1:25 a.m., June 4, Warwick Police were dispatched to McDonald’s, at 876 Bald Hill Road, to check on the condition of a man in a vehicle.

“Dispatch received a report from the manager of the McDonald’s, which alleged that there was a male passed out behind the wheel of a white pick-up truck in the drive-thru of the business,” Warwick Police Officer Keara M. Enos wrote in the arrest report.

The reporting party told police that they “made numerous attempts to wake him, however were unsuccessful.”

Enos arrived on the scene and spotted the vehicle at one of the ordering screens closest to the business.

“I parked my cruiser and began approaching the vehicle on foot,” Enos wrote. “As I did so, I heard the engine of the vehicle revving loudly, multiple times as I approached the rear of the vehicle. As I began to walk on the driver’s side of the vehicle, the vehicle began to drive forward. I called out to the operator and shined my flashlight into the vehicle, however, he did not stop.”

Enos ran after the truck, until it finally stopped behind another vehicle. She tried the door, found it locked and called out to the operator telling him to open the door. He slowly complied.

“I noticed that the operator had a dazed expression on his face and was seated in a slumped forward position in his seat,” Enos wrote. “He also had extremely glossy eyes, which were severely bloodshot and red in color.”

Police identified the driver as Robert J. D’Amico, 24, of 32 Red Hawk Drive, Cranston.

Enos asked him if he had anything to drink that night.

He replied: “Not that much, I’m just high.”

“When I asked him what he meant by being high, he stated that he had smoked a joint prior to operating his vehicle,” Enos wrote. “The operator appeared extremely unsteady on his feet and was swaying back and forth significantly while standing still. I instructed him to walk to a better lighted portion of the parking lot, which provided a smooth and even surface.”

As police attempted to perform a series of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST), D’Amico became “non-compliant” with officers.

“Finally, it was determined that D’Amico was refusing to submit to the SFSTs, and he was then placed into handcuffs,” Enos wrote.

While searching the car, police said they discovered “an open container of what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage … located in the cup holder.”

He was transported to Warwick Police Headquarters, photographed and fingerprinted. Police said he refused to take a chemical breath test.

D’Amico was charged with one count of DUI (BAC unknown, first offense) and issued citations for Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test (first offense) and Open Container of Alcoholic Beverage.

LARCENY

Warwick Police responded to Rocky Point Walking Trail, at 1 Rocky Point Ave., for the report of a larceny from a motor vehicle.

Police there for a community police event were approached by a witness who saw two individuals steal from a vehicle in the parking lot.

The witness told police that she was sitting in her car when she heard the suspects approach a vehicle parked nearby. They allegedly said,” “Oh, someone left keys in the trunk.”

The suspects were a man and a woman, both with long hair and tattoos. The woman was wearing a red dress and the man was wearing a cap, according to the witness.

The man allegedly told the woman to check the trunk. The witness looked back and saw the woman looking into the trunk holding what looked like a “camera strap” in her hands. The witness told police she then walked back to her car, and then back to the victim’s vehicle again, to “wipe down the trunk of the vehicle.”

Police on the scene had already located two suspects matching the witness’s description. The victim car’s owner was also located.

The victim told police she forgot to take the key out of the trunk lock of her vehicle, according to the arrest report written by Warwick Police Officer Michael P. Rocchio.

“Her black and white Harley Davidson pocketbook with long straps was located in the trunk,” Rocchio wrote. “She wished to press charges for larceny.”

Police on the scene said the pair — identified the woman as Cheryl Bates, 60, of 33B Home St., West Warwick — “admitted to taking the pocket book from the vehicle.”

“The stolen pocket book was in plain view underneath the passenger seat of the suspect vehicle,” Rocchio wrote.

Bates was arrested and charged with Larceny from a Motor Vehicle (less than $1,500). She was transported to Warwick Police Headquarters, searched, photographed, fingerprinted and secured in a cell. She received a Third District Court date.

The man was released form the scene “without further incident.”