OMG PD: Dunkin’ Disorderly

A look at the more unusual police reports from the past week.

By Matthew Sanderson

Dunkin' disorderly

A Cranston man’s attempt to use a Dunkin Donuts’ parking lot as his own came to an end this week after he was arrested. According to police reports, the man repeatedly left his vehicle in the parking lot of a South Kingstown Dunkin' Donuts, despite many signs warning against non-customers parking there. The cashier reportedly told police that the restaurant had called a towing company to remove the car several times, but that the vehicle owner had always moved the car before the tow company could retrieve it. 

When the man returned this week to discover his vehicle was gone, he allegedly went into the doughnut shop, called the cashier "ugly" and other names and said "if you weren't behind that counter, I would kill you." Witnesses allege the man then grabbed a stack of empty cups and threw them. A customer tried to restrain the man to keep him on scene, but he escaped before police arrived. Police tracked the man down through his towed vehicle. 

Men cut school bus in half for scrap metal

Two Tiverton men wanted scrap metal so badly recently that they reportedly took an acetylene torch to an old school bus to get to the materials in the seats. Police responded to the rear of a residence for a report of two men scrapping or stealing materials to be scrapped. The two men allegedly stole and destroyed several thousand dollars worth of metal and other materials on the site, including a snow plow, two wood stoves, a radiator from an antique dump truck and a truck frame to a Ford pick-up. When they were reportedly finished torching and looting the school bus, its entire exterior was cut in half. The men were charged with felony larceny, vandalism and trespassing.

ATM 1, Robber 0

An alleged bank robber was caught last week after police released images captured of the man on an ATM video surveillance camera during the incident in January. The man reportedly entered the enclosed ATM lobby at the front of the bank and attempted to break into the cash machine by using a crowbar, causing extensive damage. When his attempt failed, the suspect fled the area, but not before he was caught on camera. Police made the images public and tips led to his arrest. The man was charged with larceny and vandalism. 

Passed out in the library shed

South Kingstown police charged a woman with breaking and entering a library during daytime after she was allegedly found drunk and passed out next to a bottle of vodka. A library worker called police after reportedly seeing the woman break into a shed next to the library during business hours. After finding the shed door unlocked, officers allegedly found the woman sleeping under blankets next to a bottle of vodka that was spilled all over the floor.

Vanity plate says 'Hey, pull me over!'

State police had no problem tracking down an alleged drunk driver recently when they spotted a vehicle that had a vanity plate with the suspect’s last name on it. A local officer reportedly saw the vehicle with the vanity plate swerving all over the road. The North Kingstown man received DUI charges after he failed his field sobriety test and refused to submit a breathalyzer test back at the station.