Police: Man caught pink-handed after stealing girl’s bike
WOONSOCKET – The pink handgrips and tires were a dead giveaway.
When Patrolman Nicholas D’Alessio spotted a grizzled, adult male pedaling a tiny two-wheeler with cutesy accessories on Hamlet Avenue Monday, he had a strong notion that something was off – especially since it was 1:40 in the morning.
Jeffrey M. Beaudreault, 39, of North Smithfield, seemed exasperated as soon as D’Alessio pulled him over.
“Jeffrey let out a large sigh and stated that his vehicle was just towed by another officer and he borrowed his friend’s bicycle to ride home,” D’Alessio said a report.
Beaudreault insisted the bicycle belonged to the daughter of a friend of his who lived a bit down the road, but he couldn’t give the police the name of his friend or say where he lived. And when police pressed him on the issue, he admitted that he’d taken the bicycle without getting explicit permission from his friend. He was such a good friend, he told police, he knew he wouldn’t mind if he borrowed the bicycle.
Beaudreault himself didn’t seem to know exactly where he got the bicycle. But he told police he picked it up on Hamlet Avenue shortly after his car was towed from a location nearby.
So police had a general idea where it came from – and Patrolman Matthew Burgoine, another officer who responded to the scene – went looking for the owner.
He found a man who told him his granddaughter’s bicycle matched the description of one Beaudreault was riding. The man told police it was also missing from a common area of the hall in his Hamlet Avenue residence.
Burgoine transported the grandfather to D’Alessio’s location on Hamlet Avenue, near Welles Street, to take a look at the bicycle.
“He positively identified the bicycle that Jeffrey was operating as his granddaughter’s bicycle,” police reported.
The grandfather, who was not identified in police reports, was clearly no friend of Beaudreault.
He filed a formal complaint against Beaudreault, a total stranger who allegedly stole his granddaughter’s bicycle so he wouldn’t have to walk home. Beaudreault was later booked on one count of larceny under $1,500, a misdemeanor, for stealing the white bicy- cle.
The bicycle was later released to the grandfather.
Back at the police station, while Beaudreault was being booked for the theft, police say he seemed to think it was much ado over a little girl’s bike.
“During processing, Jeffrey repeatedly stated, ‘come on man, I was just trying to get home,’” D’Alessio reported.