N.S. police catch alleged car thief after two men injured in dramatic chase

NORTH SMITHFIELD – In a scene that might have been scripted for Hollywood, two men made some bold moves when they tried to catch a car thief in Woonsocket on Saturday – and they paid a price in personal injuries. But they ended up helping the police get their man in nearby North Smithfield.

Scott Rancourt, 59, of 335 Pond St. Woonsocket, was taken into custody by North Smithfield and Woonsocket police near Woodlawn Road and later booked on two counts of felonious assault with a motor vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.

The dramatic ordeal began some 20 minutes earlier, about 6 p.m., at Roadrunner’s Pit Stop at 274 Main St. in Woonsocket while the owner was inside tending to a customer and his copper-colored, 2020 Kia Sportage was outside – with the engine running.

It was then that the shopkeeper’s customer, a 23-year-old man, noticed an adult male getting into the Sportage. The man rushed out of the store and jumped on the hood of the vehicle, and the owner began chasing after the vehicle on foot as it rolled away.

As the Sportage made its way to Depot Square, the owner reportedly caught up to the vehicle and got his hand inside the driver’s side window. Police say he ended up getting his arm twisted in the process and he was briefly dragged by the vehicle before he was able to free himself – with his customer, apparently, still on the hood. Neither he nor the customer were identified in police reports.

The man on the hood later told police that the thief ran a red light in Depot Square and turned left onto Court Street. Police reports say Rancourt was attempting to “shake” the man off the hood as he screamed at the operator, begging for him to stop and let him off the vehicle safely. 

Instead, police say Rancourt slammed on the brakes, causing the hood rider to fall onto the street. As Rancourt drove off, he ran over the man’s ankle, which was later determined to have been broken.

The episode might have ended there had it not been for the fact that the owner’s cell phone was in the vehicle and it was set up to allow his wife to trace it if it went missing. The owner contacted his wife, who led police to an area off Great Road in North Smithfield, where officers zeroed-in on the vehicle.

Rancourt was taken into cutsody by multiple officers, some with rifles trained on him. Police say Rancourt didn’t initially respond to commands to surrender, but he eventually got out of the vehicle and was placed in handcuffs without much further fuss.

A police report say he was first identified by a hospital bracelet on his arm, but there’s no indication why he may have been in a medical facility recently. Similarly, there were few clues about what might have triggered such brazen behavior. Court records show scant recent interaction with law enforcement for Rancourt until October, when he was sentenced to a year’s probation for violation of a no-contact order.

The Department of Corrections inmate database now lists Rancourt as a prisoner at the Adult Correctional Institutions as prosecutors seek to charge him as a probation violator.

Meanwhile, police say the man whose ankle Rancourt allegedly broke was transported to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment. The owner of the vehicle suffered some bruising and swelling to his arm but apparently did not require medical attention.