Police: Eight men arrested over ruckus in apartment

WOONSOCKET – Eight men from four communities in two states were arrested early Sunday morning after police forced their way into an apartment in the Bernon section after neighbors complained about noise.

Saying they couldn’t sleep, the irked neighbors called the first time just after 2 a.m., at which point police knocked on the door of a third-floor apartment at 317-319 Grove St. and heard someone yell, “Get a warrant.” A responding officer said he could hear someone dragging objects against the entry- way door.

Police left without talking to anyone inside the noisy apartment, but they stayed on the scene to tow away a nearby vehicle to eliminate what they called “a parking hazard.” It’s unclear whether the vehicle belonged to anyone in the apartment. While waiting for the tow truck, however, Officer Matthew K. Bourgoine said, some of the occupants in the apartment behind the door they’d just knocked on yelled at police from the window.

After clearing from the area entirely, police were again summoned to the same apartment on a noise complaint from sleep-deprived neighbors. This time, it was about 3:24 a.m. and police said it sounded as if there was a fight taking place inside the apartment. They knocked and no one answered, so they forced their way in and immediately faced resistance – allegedly from most of the occupants. There were approximately 10 people inside, mostly men, but at least two females, one 16 and the other 47 years old, neither of whom was charged with any offense.

Police struggled violently with some of the suspects to get them into handcuffs, according to reports.

In a report, Burgoine described one encounter that began with an attempt to get Rasean Anthony Bradford into handcuffs.

Burgoine said he pulled a struggling Bradford to the floor to secure him, but as he was doing so another subject, Dayvon Lee Lewis, “was by my face. I instructed him to get back several times and he did not comply.”

Burgoine said he took his attention away from Bradford completely to deal with Lewis. The officer said he kneeled on Lewis’ back, but he continued to struggle and resorted to punching him in the head and body several times before he was able to gain control of Lewis.

Everyone who was taken into custody was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing police, including Bradford, 21, of 10 Morin Heights Blvd., and Lewis, 18, of 319 Grove St.

Also taken into custody were Corey J. Schantz, 20, of 299 Ward St.; William Anthony Rison, 21, 292 Logee St.; Alex Cote, 19, of 53 Champlain St., Blackstone; Devin Brendan McKenna, 21, of 53 Columbus Ave., North Providence; Daivon Green, 21, 577 Elm St.; and Darius Walmsley, 19, of 855 Broad St., Central Falls.

Green, McKenna and Schantz were also cited for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, a civil violation.