Man Dozing at Salvation Army Arrested for Amphetamine, Clonazepan Possession

WARWICK, RI — Officer David Boardman was called to the Salvation Army store at 558 Greenwich Ave., July 9 at 6 p.m.,  for a report of suspicious activity, where he found a 48-year-old Coventry man sleeping in a green pickup truck and arrested him for possession of Amphetamine salts and Clonazapan pills.

Boardman found a green pickup truck in the lot across the street from the store with man slumped over the steering wheel, with the keys still in the ignition. The officer was able to wake the man and gain his attention, speaking with him long enough to identify him as Scott Jonathan Blakely, 48, of 53 Rebecca St., Coventry, according to the officer’s report.

Boardman reported Blakely appeared drowsy and had track marks on his arms from intravenous drug use.

As the two spoke, Blakely told the officer he had been trying to climb over the fence to get clothes from the Salvation Army store. Boardman noticed an open styrofoam Cumberland Farms coffee cup with beer in it in the truck’s center console, and an empty Molson Ice beer can nearby. Boardman also could see about five orange prescription pill bottles in the console, he reported.

The manager of the store told Boardman she’d been driving by the place to check up on it due to a recent theft from the store’s trailer. While passing the property, she said, she noticed a green pickup truck near the fence of the store, near the donation area, according to Boardman’s report.

The manager drove up to the truck and asked the man driving if he was making a donation, she said. The man told her yes and left abruptly. As she left the lot to return home, she noticed the truck in the lot across the street, and called police, she said.

A search of Blakely’s person revealed multiple syringes, a pill bottle with two different types of pills, 17 amphetamine salt pills and 8 Clonazepam pills, according to the officer’s report. The officer also found a plastic bag containing an unknown white substance in the pocket of a pair of jeans in the truck.

Boardman arrested Blakely, charging him with three counts of illegal possession of drugs, and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Highway, where he was processed. Boardman also transported Blakely to Kent County Memorial Hospital for care, where he remained until his court hearing on the charges later that morning.

Blakely’s truck, a blue 1997 GMC, was towed from the scene by Scorpio’s Towing.