Seatbelt Stop Yields Psilocybin Arrest

WARWICK, RI — A rider in a red Jeep not wearing his seatbelt drew a Warwick officer’s attention  at the Post  Road / Airport Connector intersection, leading to a psilocybin arrest.

Officer Connor Bemis followed the Jeep from the intersection onto Rte. 95 South, using cruiser lights and siren to pull the vehicle over, according to the officer’s report. The Jeep took “an extended period of time” to stop, at one point stopping completely in the low-speed lane, according to Bemis’s report. He saw the driver moving around frantically, and ordered the driver to pull into the breakdown lane.

As Bemis approached the driver’s side of the Jeep, he noted the passenger was still not wearing a seatbelt. Bemis also saw the driver was searching in her purse, between her legs on the seat. He identified her as Sarah Beausoleil, 30, of Coventry, RI. Her front seat passenger was identified as David Dahlin, 42, of Coventry. He also identified two other passengers in the back seat.

Dahlin had an active Superior Court bench warrant for his arrest, for missing a court hearing on charges of Conveyance of Unauthorized Articles to or From Institutions and Possession of a Schedule I to V Controlled Substance 10 Grams or Less.

Two fellow WPD officers arrived to assist Bemis, and he arrested Dahlin on the warrant. Dahlin was ultimately released on his own recognizance and scheduled for a pretrial conference on the charges on Aug. 5.

Bemis noted a crack pipe in plain view in the passenger’s side panel, and proceeded to search the rest of the vehicle, finding a large number of hypodermic needles and a plastic bag with psilocybin mushrooms. He arrested Beausoleil, charging her with possession of the controlled substance in the psilocybin arrest.

One of Beausoleil’s rear-seat passengers took custody of the Jeep and drove it from the highway stop.

Beausoleil and Dahlin were transported to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where they were processed on their respective charges.

Beausoleil was arraigned on the psilocybin arrest possession charge in Third District Court on June 25, and scheduled for a status conference hearing July 8.