Forged registration can’t fool city police
Routine traffic stop ends with multiple charges for Providence man
WOONSOCKET — The Division of Motor Vehicles had canceled the registration on the car he was driving, so Joel Rosario hand-crafted his own paperwork, police say.
And he really didn’t want to talk about it.
The 37-year-old Providence man allegedly refused to come out of his 2005 Mercury until police pointed a Taser at his chest after stopping the vehicle on Clinton Street Wednesday morning. Then police removed him from the vehicle and discovered a combat knife with a 7-inch blade tucked alongside the driver’s seat and and a small amount of marijuana in the driver’s door compartment.
He was taken into custody on charges of forging a motor vehicle registration; possession of an unlawful weapon; and possession of marijuana, a non-criminal offense.
Police said they pulled Rosario over about 9:30 a.m. after he failed to stop for a sign at North Main and Main streets heading into the city. Officer Patrick T. McGourty also described the rear plate sticker on Rosario’s car as “unreadable.”
When McGourty ran the plate number through the DMV’s database, he could find no record of it.
After Rosario stopped in front of the Woonsocket Motor Inn on Clinton Street, Rosario claimed he just bought the vehicle, then produced a title indicting the sale took place more than 18 months ago. In one final attempt to determine whether the vehicle was registered, police checked the VIN number in the DMV’s database and learned the registration had been canceled.
Police told Rosario the vehicle would be towed and asked him to step out of it.
“No, I don’t think I have to,” Rosario allegedly replied. At the same time, he buckled his seat belt and reached for the ignition, police said.
“I drew my department Taser and concentrated the laser on Rosario’s chest,” McGourty reported. “Upon drawing my Taser, Rosario removed the ignition key and put both his hands in the air.”
The knife police pulled from the between the seat and the safety buckle was emblazoned with the inscription, “One Shot, One Kill,” according to police.
As McGourty was removing the plates from the vehicle, he realized the rear plate sticker was nothing more “a light pink piece of paper with JAN 2018 written on it,” the officer reported.
“It was evident that the sticker was not issued by the state, and instead appeared to be homemade,” he said.