WPD Arrests Rain-Soaked Man, Charging Him With Attempted Larceny From Cars

WARWICK, RI — Warwick Police Sgt. Frank McGee heard a radio call alerting officers to a suspicious man rummaging through cars at Cowesett Hills Apartments near building 21, including a white Monte Carlo, in the rain.

McGee drove to the 3595 Post Road address, and saw the Monte Carlo in question, spotting a dark colored leaving the lot. McGee followed, catching up to the car at the roundabout near the Apponaug Dunkin Donuts, and pulling the vehicle over. McGee and the car pulled in to the parking lot at People’s Liquor Warehouse, McGee reported.

McGee spoke with the driver, identifying him as Antonio Petrangelo, Jr., 37, of 15 Napoleon St., who told the officer he was visiting a woman in building 21, according to the report.

When McGee told him someone in the complex had been rummaging through cars, Petrangelo replied, “I didn’t take anything,” and repeated the sentence when asked why he had been out in the rain. Petrangelo was completely drenched, McGee observed, according to the report.

McGee contacted officer Damien Andrews, who helped him set up a stand-up with a witness identification of Petrangelo. The witness positively identified Petrangelo as the man who had been sorting throught cars in the lot.

Officer Javier Cabreja arrested Petrangelo and transported him to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, where police charged him with two counts of attempted larceny.

Neither owner of either vehicle was able to find anything missing from their cars, though each noted their belongings had been thoroughly disturbed.

A witness later told officers he had noticed Petrangelo going through his neighbor’s car while using his bathroom and happening to look outside at the parking lot.