Fairmount car stop leads to DUI, weapons arrests

WOONSOCKET — Two men are held at the state prison this week after police stopped a car whose driver was intoxicated and whose passenger was carrying a loaded firearm.

Jamie B. Warner, 52, of 188 First Ave., pleaded no contest to the drunk driving charge in Sixth District Court on Wednesday and was sentenced to one year, with 10 days to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions and the balance suspended, with probation, according to the judiciary’s website.

His passenger, identified as Phillip N. Dabney, 40, of 525 Second Ave., is held at the ACI in lieu of $10,000 surety bail, according to the Department of Corrections website. Police charged him with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possession of a firearm after a conviction for a crime of violence. He was also charged with possession of an unlawful knife that was within his reach in the Nissan sedan he was riding in.

Sgt. Patrick McGourty stopped the vehicle in the Fairmount section on suspicion of speeding at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the officer reported.

Warner smelled of alcohol and took a breath test that registered a BAC of .227, or

nearly twice the legal limit. But McGourty reported that one of the first things he noticed when he looked inside the vehicle was a “ninja-style dagger” in the open glove box on the passenger side.

After calling for backup to secure the driver, McGourty asked Dabney to step from the vehicle and suspected from his movements that he was attempting to conceal something around his midsection. He conducted a pat-down of the suspect and felt what he immediately recognized as the shape of a handgun behind his front waistband.

“Gun!” McGourty yelled, prompting Officer Matthew Derham to assist him in getting Dabney into handcuffs.

The officers then pulled a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from Dabney’s waistband. Although there was no magazine clip in the weapon, there was a live round in the chamber, the officers reported.

Although the charges lodged against Abney indicate he has a prior conviction, it’s not in Rhode Island, since the judiciary’s website lists Tuesday’s arrest as his only contact with law enforcement in this state. Efforts to learn the nature of the past offense were not immediately successful.

Dabney has another hearing scheduled in court on the charges June 23.