Police Log: He Had Blood On His Hands

A Providence man is facing criminal charges after police stopped him for allegedly speeding, and learned he was a suspect in an episode of vandalism.

Sometime after midnight Thursday morning, Officer Daniel Lajoie spotted a driver in a Nissan Altima reportedly speeding on Park Avenue. He followed the car and allegedly clocked the driver traveling at 70 miles per hour in a 25-miles-per-hour zone. He also saw the car cross into the oncoming lane, according to reports. Lajoie turned on his siren and signal lights, and the driver pulled over. Another officer then arrived as backup.  

The officers arrested the driver, Michael Earl Power, 24, of 64 Parkway Ave., Providence. When an officer asked Power why both his hands were bleeding, he told them he had cut his knuckles hitting a punching bag. The officers called an ambulance to take Power to Landmark Medical Center to have the cuts examined.

Minutes later, a dispatcher contacted the officers and told them Power was a suspect in an act of vandalism. His girlfriend had dialed 911 a short time earlier to report he had smashed the back window of her car while it was parked in a Social Street lot. Another officer was sent to investigate that report.

While searching Power's car, officers allegedly found a small white pill, later identified as oxycodone, insice his wallet. A tow truck then removed his car from the scene.

Lajoie went to Landmark, where he spoke to Power in the emergency room. While they were talking, Power was able to overhear several messages from a police dispatcher, and became agitated. "He made several excited utterances," Lajoie wrote in a report. "He said it was bull that he was locked up in Woonsocket because he didn't do anything." 

Power allegedly added that he "did something earlier" in Attleboro that involved the A P Bloods, a street gang, but when Lajoie pressed him for details, he clammed up. He also told the officer he had a prescription for the oxycodone.

After Power saw a doctor, police brought him to the police station, where he was charged with reckless driving, malicious destruction of property, and possession of a controlled substance. Power was put in a cell, and the oxycodone pill was placed in the evidence locker.

Two face drug charges

Two men are facing drug charges after police stopped the car they were traveling in and allegedly found a small amount of marijuana and more than 60 oxycodone pills.

Officer Patrick McGourty was patrolling Harris Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday when he reportedly saw a 2011 Malibu cross into the oncoming lane. McGourty followed the car, and observed that the driver failed to signal when he turned onto the Court Street bridge. The officer turned on his siren, and the driver stopped. Another police unit arrived for back-up.

When McGourty approached the car, he saw a passenger "making a furtive movement near his waistband." The officer then told the driver and two passengers to step out of the vehicle.

The officers first searched a passenger, John M. Cotton, 43, of 230 Logee St. During the pat-down, they heard a jingling noise that sounded like the rattle of pills, and as they continued a prescription bottle fell out of Cotton's right pants leg. Inside were 65 pills later identified as oxycodone. According to police reports, the drugs have an estimated value of $975. Cotton also had $1,830 cash in his pockets.

The officers then searched the driver, Mark Mello, 42, of 55 Woodland St., Cumberland. They allegedly found six grams of marijuana, four oxycodone pills, and two pills identified as alprazolam, an anxiety medication.

The officers arrested both men and took them to the police station. Police charged Cotton with possession of a controlled substance, and Mello with driving with a suspended license, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and driving while in possession of a controlled substance.

They filed no charges against a third man who was also in the car. He did lose his ride home, however. A tow truck removed Mello's car from the scene.

Other arrests

Police arrested Ousman Njie, 35, of 1119 Park Ave., on a warrant at 12:14 a.m. Thursday.

Police arrested Edwin Guzman, 19, of 72 Bourbon Blvd., on a warrant at 9:08 a.m. Thursday.

Christian Glode, 35, of 73 West St., faces a charge of assault and battery. Police arrested him at 12:03 a.m. Friday at his home after responding to a complaint about a domestic disturbance.

Police arrested John Letondress, 37, of 427 Wood Ave., on a warrant at 1:52 a.m. Thursday.

Police arrested John Bain, 28, of 216 Third Ave., on a warrant at 1:57 a.m. Thursday.