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WPD Arrests Warwick Man on Kayak Theft Charge

The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.
The Warwick Police Department is located at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive.

WARWICK, RI — Warwick Police arrested a local man on Post Road Aug. 21, charging him with stealing a kayak after an investigation spurred by cut boat tie-down straps found trailing from the man’s front door June 24 matching cut straps from the stolen vessel.

Officer James Vible was called to Amazing Intimate Apparel at 2318 Post Road that day in June for a report of a stolen kayak.

The kayak’s owner told Vible that while she was inside the store, someone had taken her lime green Trail Blazer Kayak, valued at $259, off of her car. She black nylon straps tying it to the vehicle had been cut, according to Vible’s report.

A woman inside the store approached her, she said, and warned her that a very tan man with dark hair and a tie-dye T-shirt had been walking around her car, examining the kayak, the officer reported.

The two women told Vible they left the store to check on the kayak, and found the straps had been cut, and the kayak was missing. The two pointed out straps matching the cut straps on the car trailing from the shut door of 2320 Post Road, located behind the store. Vible attempted to speak with the residents of the house, but no one answered, and he could also see no sign of the kayak in the yard or through the front windows, Vible reported.

Vible, who recognized the occupants from prior calls, set up two photo line-ups and asked witness who saw the man inspecting the kayak if she could ID him. She followed Vible back to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, to attempt to identify the man, but did not recognize any of the men she saw in the photo line-up.

On July 1, Detective Kerri Chatten set up a second photo line-up with new suspects, this time including the other resident of the house. The woman recognized one of them, John Lizarda, 46, of 2320 Post Road.

On Aug. 21, Officers Timothy Tavares and Jacob Elderkin visited Lizarda with a warrant for his arrest in the larceny. The officers arrested Lizarda without incident.

Lizarda was released with a court summons to answer the charge in Third District Court Sept. 18.

Rob Borkowski
Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

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