Student Arrested for Taking Knife to Toll Gate High

WARWICK, RI — Warwick Police arrested an 18-year-old Toll Gate High School student March 26 at 8:10 a.m. after he brought a knife into the building, charging him with weapons other than firearms prohibited.

Police were alerted to the student’s possession of the knife on school property by Principal Frederick Schweizer, who said he received a tip that a student, Alex A. Marta, 18, of 25 Euclid Ave., Warwick, had brought a knife into the school, according to the report of Officer Michael Walker.

Schweizer described the knife as a folding knife, with a blade longer than three inches. Marta’s mother was called, but declined to come to the school, telling Schweizer she wanted Marta to handle the issue himself, since he is 18-years-old.

Marta and Walker spoke briefly, and the student admitted to taking the knife into the school, saying that he had “screwed up” by bringing the knife onto the bus without realizing it was in his pocket.

When he got off the bus at the school, Marta said he put the knife in his backpack, but that he had done it underneath the security cameras at the school and supposed someone had seen him, according to Walker’s report.

Walker measured the knife, confirming it was longer than three inches, and arrested Marta, transporting him to Warwick Police Headquarters, where he was processes and charged with possession of prohibited weapons other than firearms, and scheduled for a hearing to face the charge in Third District Court on May 1.