Man busted at nursing home after hit-and-run car crash
WOONSOCKET – After chasing down a man wanted for two different crimes Thursday morning, police tracked him down at a nursing home, where he pretended to be applying for a job, they say.
Richard Desautels, 21, of 132 Chestnut St., was cornered by police inside the Friendly Home on Rhodes Avenue at about 11:30 a.m.
Desautels was wanted on a string of charges stemming from a serious hit-and-run crash that occurred at West School and Prospect streets on Aug. 21. The operator of another vehicle involved in the crash, a 56-year-old man, was trapped in the wreckage briefly and later transported to Landmark Medical Center.
Police got a lead on Desautels Thursday after he allegedly entered his family’s house at 132 Chestnut St. without permission. His father told police Desautels knew he wasn’t supposed to be in the house and wanted to press charges against him.
With clues about his possible whereabouts provided by family members, police began searching for Desautels in the Fairmount section, where a worker at the Friendly Home flagged down a policeman and told him a man fitting the suspect’s description was in the lobby.
While a group of police officers surrounded the building, others went inside to look for Desautels.
“I saw Desautels walking to a side door of the building and advised that he was leaving the building,” Officer Scott Breguet reported. “As I began to run after Desautels, I observed him exit the side door directly into the arms of Officer (Patrick) McGourty.”
Deputy Chief Michael Lemoine said that Desautels gave workers in the nursing home the impression that he had walked in to apply for a
job, but the ruse didn’t work.
Desautels was charged with one count of domestic breaking and entering into a dwelling house without consent for the incident at his father’s house. During
an appearance in Sixth District Court, he was also arraigned on four counts stemming from last month’s motor vehicle crash – leaving the scene of an accident involving a personal injury; possession of a controlled substance; driving while in possession of a controlled substance; and duty to as-
sist.
On that day, police say he was operating a black Chevy that broadsided a Mercury Grand Marquis as the latter vehicle was passing through the intersection of West School and Prospect streets. Two men abandoned the Chevy and fled on foot, witnesses told police – in-
cluding one who obtained cell phone video of the culprits as they ran off.
Among other things, police said they found Desautels’ ID and cocaine in the vehicle.