Fugititve captured after high-speed chase
Woonsocket man tracked down after vehicle, foot pursuit through city
WOONSOCKET — A man wanted for a parole violation stemming from a conviction for trafficking cocaine in nearby Blackstone was captured after a highspeed motor vehicle chase and foot pursuit in the city Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Jordan Robinson, 27, of 167 Blackstone St., allegedly led police on a motor vehicle chase through heavy traffic along Hamlet Avenue and Front Street at speeds of 50-60 mph – around twice the limit.
Patrolman Daniel Lajoie said he recognized Robinson driving a black Nissan Maxima on Cumberland Hill Road about 3:20 p.m. and knew he was wanted for driving without a license and for violating his parole for cocaine trafficking. Lajoie said Robinson was “known to run” from the police and one of the pending warrants also had a notation calling him an escape risk.
Robinson apparently lived up to his reputation. With an unidentified black male in the passenger seat, Robinson initially pulled over on the Hamlet Avenue Bridge. When the officer approached the vehicle on foot and told Robinson to cut the ignition, however, the driver allegedly looked Lajoie straight in the eye, put the car in gear and took off.
After calling for backup and chasing the Maxima halfway across the city in his cruiser, Lajoie lost sight of the sedan on Grand Street. Police found the vehicle – unoccupied – in a driveway on Ward Street. A short time later, other officers chased Robinson down on foot in a yard on Mowry Street. The passenger vanished, however, and police aren’t sure of his identity.
Police called in the department’s drug-sniffing K9 Aspen to search the Maxima after taking Robinson into custody. The dog was keenly interested in the trunk, which gave off “a strong odor of marijuana,” according to police, but all they found inside were some aerial fireworks mortars, which are illegal.
In addition to the fugitive charge, Jordan was later booked for possession of prohibited fireworks, eluding police, obstructing police and third-offense driving on a suspended license.
During a subsequent arraignment in court, the latter four charges were resolved. Court records say Sixth District Court Judge Pamela Woodcock-Pfeiffer dismissed the fireworks and obstructing charges in return for Jordan’s plea of no contest to the other two. He was given a year’s probation, his license was suspended for 90 days and he was ordered to pay $642 in fines and fees.
Robinson, however, was ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions on the fugitive charge pending a rendition hearing on Tuesday.
Efforts to determine how Robinson allegedly violated his parole in Massachusetts, or where, exactly, were not successful as of press time, but the offense stemmed from an underlying conviction in a 2011 cocaine trafficking case that, at the time, Blackstone police called one of the biggest in recent history.
Assisted by a regional drug task force and a SWAT team, Blackstone police seized over 500 grams of cocaine and $20,000 in cash from an apartment at 30 Canal St., just over the city line. They also confiscated a collection of drug paraphernalia associated with a high-volume distribution operation, including scales, mixers and a large hydraulic press used for forming powder cocaine into bricks.
Robinson was one five people arrested on drug trafficking charges. Except for Robinson, who gave police a Blackstone address at the time, all the others were from Woonsocket.