The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Johnston Police. Chief Richard S. Tamburini or Deputy Chief David DeCesare has reviewed all reports.
DOMESTIC
Christopher Fernandez, 21, of 168 Borden Ave., was charged with domestic assault on April 6 after his ex-girlfriend came into headquarters to complain that he asked her to drive him around to do some errands, and when she said she would not he struck her several times and refused to get out of her car before he hit her. She showed police the door handle he broke as he tried to get back into the car as she was driving off to get away from him. Patrolman Luca Lancellotti reported that she had marks on her body consistent with her story. Lancellotti said Fernandez came into headquarters shortly after that and was charged with domestic assault, domestic vandalism and domestic disorderly. He was later released on $3,000 personal recognizance.
Joshua R. Andrews, 32, of 12 Francis St., Cumberland, was charged with domestic assault and domestic disorderly conduct on April 15 after Cumberland Police picked him up on a warrant for assaulting a Johnston woman in her Maple Avenue residence. Andrews was presented to the Attorney General’s office as a probation violator and arraigned before a justice of the peace, who set bail at $5,000 surety and issued a no-contact order. Andrews was later remanded to the ACI.
NO RETURN
A manager for Christie’s Auto Rentals on Old Pocasset Lane in Johnston went to headquarters to file a complaint against a Providence woman on April 12. He told Patrolman Jeffrey Fryer that the woman rented a car from him while her own car was being repaired on March 8. He said the car was to be returned by March 28, but she never brought it back. He said he had been trying to get in touch with her since then, using the contact number she gave him in March, but she has not replied. Fryer reported he tried the number with the same result. Fryer said the address on the rental agreement was Woodman Avenue in Providence, but the DMV had it on Payton Street. Detectives tried to find her on both streets with no success. Det. Thomas Dwyer reported that he finally reached her by phone and she agreed to turn herself in. She told Dwyer she returned the vehicle to the auto body shop earlier that day. Wendy Ovalles, 33, of 34 Woodman Ave., Providence, was charged with obtaining a vehicle with intent to defraud. She told police the auto body shop gave her until April 11 to return the car and she was unaware that a complaint was filed against her.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
It was, as Yogi Berra would have said, “déjà vu all over again,” as Johnston Police once again pursued a North Providence man around town in the early morning hours of April 14. Patrolman Derrick Palazzo was dispatched to Indian Valley Drive for a report of a black car outside a residence there that was honking its horn repeatedly at 4:30 a.m. Palazzo said he was familiar with the address and the suspect and searched the area attempting to locate him. He knew the suspect had a suspended license and an outstanding warrant out of Smithfield for a domestic charge involving an ex-girlfriend. He also knew the suspect was a probation violator with eight prior arrests for domestic and motor vehicle violations and was last arrested on March 31 for felonious reckless driving, eluding police and driving on a suspended license. Palazzo said he did locate the suspect’s car near Indian Valley Drive and Brown Avenue and the car took off. A chase reaching 50 to 60 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone was on. The suspect, Anthony C. Furia, 20, of 242 Waterman Ave., North Providence, got away after Palazzo broke off the chase for public safety reasons.
A second call from the same address came two hours later saying Furia was back and honking his horn again. This time, four other officers were in on the pursuit and Palazzo said he was behind the car with his lights and siren on when he saw the suspect’s car headed right into the front of another police car, forcing it off the road to avoid a head-on collision. Now assault with a dangerous weapon was added to the charges. Patrolman Philip Viens said he followed the car as it ran multiple red lights and stop signs as it sped through the area until he, too, had to call off the chase to avoid endangering other people on the road.
Det. James Brady reported that he and Patrolman Viens went to Furia’s North Providence address in an unmarked car and saw his car there. Brady said they called North Providence Police to inform them of what was going on and they arrived just as Furia was coming out of the building with another man. He said Furia saw him and Patrolman Viens approaching him and “he started to cry, saying ‘I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything.’”
Brady said Furia was taken back to headquarters and charged with two counts of reckless driving, two counts of driving on a suspended license and felony assault with a dangerous weapon.
Sgt. Joseph Salvadore reported he was at the arraignment for Furia on those charges and a probation violation and assessed $10,000 surety bail and was about to be transported to the ACI when he tried to get away and started kicking violently but was subdued and placed in the car. Salvadore said Furia kicked at the window of the cruiser and started banging his head against the divider. He said he had a cut on his left eye by the time they got to the ACI, and the ACI said they would not take him with the cut until hospital staff evaluated him. Furia was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and kept under guard by Johnston Police until the Rhode Island Sheriffs Department could take custody.
