Teen Flees Traffic Stop, Causes Warwick Avenue Crash

WARWICK, RI — A  teen fled a Quimby Street traffic stop Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 11:32 a.m., causing a Warwick Avenue crash, sending the other driver to Rhode Island Hospital with serious, non-life threatening injuries.

The crash shut down the intersection of Warwick Avenue and Narragansett Parkway for a few hours, and Warwick Police warned motorists away from the area at about noon on their Facebook page. The teen and two men in the car before the traffic stop were arrested on numerous charges.

The traffic stop began when a WPD officer noticed a car with a dark window tint and stolen plates, and pulled the car over on Quimby Street. The driver and a passenger, both men, immediately got out and tried to flee on foot. The officer was able to stop them and reported they were acting suspiciously, constantly trying to conceal their hands in their waistbands, according to a  WPD statement on the incident

Suspecting the men might be holding a firearm or contraband, the officer drew his firearm, and ordered both men to the ground. They complied, but still would not show their hands, police reported.

Seconds later, a second passenger in the vehicle, a young man in his late teens the officer hadn’t seen because of the tinted windows, moved into the driver’s seat and drove the vehicle in reverse at a high rate of speed, nearly hitting the officer and the two men, still being held at gunpoint on the ground, according to the report.

Other officers responding to the scene to assist saw the fleeing vehicle on Airport Road as it operated erratically with a blown out tire. The officers attempted to stop the fleeing vehicle chased it less than 2 miles. As the fleeing vehicle was traveling North on Warwick Avenue, it proceeded through a red light and struck a vehicle turning left onto Warwick Avenue from Narragansett Parkway. Officers on scene quickly apprehended the male driver of the fleeing vehicle and tended to the driver in the vehicle that was struck, a woman.

The injured woman was transported to Rhode Island Hospital by Warwick Rescue with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. The teen who had caused the collision faces numerous charges, police report. A stolen firearm was located under the driver’s seat of the vehicle he was driving. At the scene of the initial traffic stop, officers located ammunition that one of the male occupants discarded from his pants, according to police.

The two men at the original traffic stop were also taken into custody.

Branley Ferreras, 19, of 126 Moorefield St. Apt. #1, Providence, RI is being charged with:

-Receiving Stolen Goods

-Bench Warrant

Darlin Daniel Gomez, 22, of 22 Quimby St. Warwick, RI is being charged with:

-Possession of a Stolen Firearm

-Possession of Schedule I-V drugs

-Multiple bench warrants

Ferreras and Gomez will be held overnight and will appear at the Third District Court on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 at 9 a.m. The Warwick Police Accident Reconstruction Team is  investigating the collision. Police asked anyone with information regarding the crash to contact Officer Mourato at 468-4310.