WOONSOCKET – With a campaign of stepped-up enforcement for impaired drivers under way for the holidays, members of the Woonsocket Police Department arrested a series of motorists for infractions involving alcohol – and a host of other complicating factors.
Following a two-car crash, two men were arrested – a motorist and his passenger – after police say they repeatedly lied about who was driving and got into a heated argument about it. Another was taken into custody with more than two times the legal limit of alcohol in his system, police said.
James Downey, 52, of 187 Harrison Ave. Woonsocket, and his passenger, Dennis Westgate, 64, of 88 Griffin St. Burrillville, were both taken into custody after a two-car crash on Mason Street around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29. Downey was charged with driving under the influence, with an unknown BAC, or blood alcohol concentration; possession of an unlawful knife; disorderly conduct; and driving without a valid license. He and Westgate were also charged with one count each of obstruction for misleading police about which of them was behind the wheel.
Additionally, Downey was also given Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal citations for refusal to submit to a chemical test, driving with an open container of alcohol and operating without evidence of insurance.
When they arrived to investigate, police said they learned Downey and Westgate had swapped seats after the collision. The two men got into a verbal exchange in which Downey allegedly threatened to beat up Westgate after he was released from police custody for identifying him as the driver, according to the arrest report.
Police said both men were visibly intoxicated, but Downey refused to take a breath-alcohol test. While at the scene police developed information that he had left the vehicle briefly to walk behind a nearby store, where police later found a half-empty, open bottle of vodka. A bottle cap found in Downey’s white Altima “fit perfectly on the top of the alcohol container,” Officer Robert Frye’s report says.
Downey allegedly made a surprising admission about what he was doing before the crash: driving around trying to make a drug deal, according to police reports.
Before being taken into custody, a knife with a blade-length in excess of the legal maximum was seized from Downey’s possession, police said.
“Operation Blue Riptide,” as the anti-impaired driving campaign is dubbed by the police, also led to the arrest of Alexander Donnelly, 24, of 4 Gilfillan Road, North Smithfield.
Donnelly was arrested around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28, after Lt. Michael Martinsen, on a Blue Riptide patrol, saw his vehicle operating erratically near Transit and Front Streets.
After Donnelly pulled his green Honda over on South Main Street, the officer noted the driver’s condition and observed an open beer and a bottle of vodka in the vehicle.
Donnelly consented to take a breath alcohol test, registering a BAC of .180, which is more than twice the legal limit for driving. Donnelly was charged with driving under the influence with a BAC of .15 or greater.
Another of Martinsen’s observations was that there was white powder on Donnelly’s nose, a telltale sign of drug use, according to the policeman, a certified Drug Recognition Expert, or DRE. Donnelly was not charged with any related offense, however. He told police he was just in town to drop off a homeless man at the Court Street Bridge.
who cares?
Perhaps if more space had been left between stories it would not render confusion? They ran into each other.
I too had to go back and reread to see who was who…..
So is it Donnelly or Downey ?
There are three arrests discussed. It’s both.