Assault probe leads to felony drug charges
WOONSOCKET – Two people are facing felony drug charges after police seized a substantial amount of cocaine and marijuana Sunday in what began as a report of a domestic assault.
Mitchell S. Savard, 22, and Tatiana S. Rawlinson, 21, both of 122 Transit St., were charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. Savard was also charged with one count of domestic assault and battery.
The investigation began at 5:36 a.m. Sunday when a female relative of Rawlinson told police she’d witnessed the couple fighting after she went to their apartment to pick up a cell phone. She told police that after watching Savard strike Rawlinson several times with his hands, Savard forced her out of the apartment, then barricaded himself inside with Rawlinson.
At least a half dozen officers arrived and repeatedly tried making contact with the occupants of the couple’s second-floor apartment, to no avail. Finally, police forced their way in and located the couple in the living room, along with two other adults, an 18-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man. Neither of the latter individuals was charged with any crime.
Though her right eye was visibly bruised and swollen, Rawlinson denied Savard had caused the injury, telling officers it was the result of a bar fight in Providence that occurred the night before.
As police were removing some of the individuals who weren’t under arrest from the apartment, an officer noticed a large jar in a closet that contained several cellophane packages of marijuana and other knotted-up, glassine pouches that contained a white powdery substance.
The officers ended up seizing nearly an ounce of cocaine from the apartment, including 20 grams of powder cocaine and 5 grams of crack. Police also seized 417 grams of marijuana in all – or almost a pound.
In addition to the drugs, police seized an assortment of paraphernalia allegedly used for packaging and distributing drugs, including latex gloves, freezer bags and four scales. Officers also seized three cell phones owned by Savard.
Following an initial appearance in Sixth District Court Monday, Savard was ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions as a violator of his sentence on prior drug charges. On Sept. 20, 2017, Savard was given an 18-month suspended sentence, with probation, after pleading no contest to Providence police charges of possession of a controlled substance, according to the judiciary’s web site.
He’s due back in court for a sentencing hearing on the violation on March 1.
Savard’s criminal history includes another case that made headlines in August 2016. A Woonsocket policeman shot him in the leg in a parking lot off Elm Street while officers were investigating a chaotic fight involving multiple individuals, one of whom suffered a broken arm after being struck by a pipe.
A number of witnesses thought they heard someone yelling “he has a gun” before the officer fired his weapon at Savard, who was hiding behind a Dumpster. No weapon was ever found, but Savard was charged with obstructing police and disorderly conduct. The shooting was justified, an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General later concluded.
Savard’s father – Mitchell Savard III – also made news for protesting the actions of the police in that incident. He vowed to run for mayor to address issues of police misconduct, but his name never made it to the ballot that year.
The younger Savard later reached a sentencing agreement with state prosecutors in which the disorderly conduct charge was dismissed in exchange for his plea of no contest to obstructing. He was given a year’s suspended sentence, with probation, after being convicted of the remaining charge.