Date: April 13, 2001

 

A highly publicized Providence murder investigation came to a conclusion last week with the arrest of a 42-year-old Providence female at the Town and Country Motel. As many are aware, this investigation began when the female murder suspect in this case allegedly struck a second female with her vehicle and then fled the scene. Eventually, the Providence investigation led to this department's involvement at 5:10 p.m. one evening last week when Providence detectives met with officers from this department after they learned that the suspect was staying at the Town & Country. As Lt. Casey, Officer Dyson and Officer Benson from this department along with several Providence Police detectives converged on the motel, they formulated a plan to safely enter the room. Unfortunately, while the officers were not sure if the suspect had any weapons, they were also acutely aware that any forced entry into a motel room is dangerous due to the lone point of entry. With this in mind, the officers cautiously knocked on the door and then used a key after the lone female refused to answer the door. As the officers burst through the door, this party was quickly subdued and taken into custody. With the suspect in custody, she was subsequently transported to the station where she was booked. After bail was set at $500,000, this party was transferred to the House of Correction to await court arraignment the following day for being a fugitive from Rhode Island for the charge of murder. The following day, the defendant waived her extradition rights where she was later transported back to Providence by officers from that department.

While this incident was taking place, Officer Dyer became involved in a lengthy investigation involving a stolen vehicle and stolen checks. This situation began when a Seekonk resident arrived at the station and reported that she had sold a car to a female party from Providence and during the sale she accepted a personal check for payment without obtaining any positive identification of the buyer. Upon attempting to cash the check, she was informed that the account had been closed. Fearing the worst, this party then went on to track down the party listed on the check, only to discover that the party listed on the check had closed the account when he discovered that three checks had been stolen from his check book. After confirming that this theft had been reported to the Providence Police, the investigating officers from this department went on to enter this vehicle as having been stolen. As of this time, while this case is still under investigation, the seller is without her car and only holds a worthless check for the sale.

In other arrest news, what started as an investigation into a shoplifting incident escalated into the arrest of a male party by this department and a female party by the East Providence Police. Initially, Officer McDonald responded to Stop & Shop for a reported shoplifter in custody. Once at the store, a loss prevention officer explained that the male in custody and a female accomplice had concealed more than $100 in frozen seafood behind a baby that was being pushed in a stroller. After they exited the store without paying for the merchandise, the male party was taken into custody, while the female party grabbed the baby and fled from the scene in a vehicle that the officers later learned was a stolen car. Based on this, the East Providence Police stopped the fleeing female and placed her in custody for operating a stolen motor vehicle, while the male party was transported to our station. While being processed at the station, officers found that the defendant had provided false information regarding his identity which led to the discovery that this party was wanted by the New Bedford Police for two counts of assault and battery. In the end, after failing to secure $2,580 in bail, this party was also transferred to the House of Correction to await court arraignment in the morning.

A crash injury profile of Seekonk yielded some interesting, and in some cases, surprising information regarding motor vehicle accidents and injuries sustained in this town. The good news is that the number of accidents in which someone was injured or property was damaged from 1998 to 1999 dropped significantly, from 900 to 617. In addition, total injuries during this same time span dropped from 364 to 344. Now, for a crash injury profile quiz for 1999, what would your guess be to the following questions?

- What month resulted in the most injuries? (April)

- What month resulted in the least amount of injuries? (January)

- What day of the week resulted in the most injuries? (Monday)

- What day of the week resulted in the least amount of injuries? (Sunday)

- At what time of day did the majority of accidents occur in which someone was injured? (Between 1:00 & 2:00 p.m.)

- Did more accidents with injuries occur on dry or wet roads? (77% occurred on dry roads)

- Did more accidents with injuries occur at night or during the daylight hours? (71% occurred during the daylight hours)

- What age group was injured the most? (Between 15-19 years old)

- Who was injured more often, males or females? (Males and females injured were virtually even)