Warwick man with 17 warrants arrested by city police after vehicle stop
WOONSOCKET — A Warwick man riding in a vehicle stopped for speeding on Friday was wanted on 17 warrants issued by the Sixth District Court, police say.
William Parenteau, 51, of 237 Shamrock Drive, was also charged with possession of crack cocaine and fentanyl about 3 a.m.
Police said Parenteau was a passenger in a vehicle that caught the attention of Patrol Officer Mason Freeman because the officer had twice seen it idling outside the Woonsocket Motor Inn within a span of 20 minutes.
After observing Parenteau leave the motel and get inside the blue Honda, the officer later clocked the vehicle doing 40 mph in a 25 mph zone on River Street and performed a motor vehicle stop.
The officer did a background check on Parenteau and discovered that there were 17 active “bench” warrants issued for his arrest by the Sixth District Court in Providence. All were for failure to appear in court for restitution hearings. Restitution is a typical probationary requirement for offenders convicted of crimes involving a loss of property or cash and appearance at such hearings is compulsory. When an offender fails to appear, the presiding judge usually issues a warrant from the bench – hence the term “bench warrant.”
Parenteau has a criminal record that includes dozens of contacts with law enforcement dating back to 1993 for shoplifting, felony shoplifting, drug possession and other offenses, according to the judiciary’s web site.
After taking Parenteau into custody, police searched the vehicle he was riding in and found about a gram of crack cocaine and two grams of fentanyl. Each was packaged in separate glassine bags located in areas of the vehicle close to his seat, according to police.
He was held at police headquarters until later in the morning, when he was transported to Sixth District Court for an appearance before a judge.
In addition to the narcotics offenses, Parenteau was charged as a probation violator and remanded to the Adult Correctional Institutions pending further court action.
There is no indication from a report of Parenteau’s arrest or the police log that the operator of the blue Honda Parenteau was riding in was charged with any offense.