WARWICK -- As families desperately awaited word of loved ones missing in the West Warwick nightclub fire last week, Jeremy J. Howell was allegedly using the grief center to obtain a free hotel room, food and a cell phone.
Howell, 25, of 1642 1/2 Main St., West Warwick, allegedly went to the center on Friday and told West Warwick police that his girlfriend went to see the band Great White at The Station and was still missing.
He was then able to obtain a hotel room for Friday night, valued at $129, a cell phone, valued at $100, and some food, the police said.
It was not until Tuesday when the police called Howell back to find out more information about the missing person report that they became suspicious and learned that his girlfriend -- who he identified as Jessica Simpson, 24, of North Kingstown -- did not exist.
Howell was arrested that afternoon, held by state police overnight and was charged yesterday in District Court, Warwick, on two counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, one count of filing a false document, and one count of obstruction of a police and fire investigation.
"This case is particularly disturbing given the victims who are out there dealing with real losses," Judge Jeanne E. LaFazia said during the arraignment.
Each charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
HOWELL WENT to the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, knowing that families of victims were receiving aid there, state police Detective Timothy G. Sanzi told the court.
Sarah E. Bilofsky, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island chapter of the American Red Cross, said her organization had a bank of cell phones at the hotel available for family members to make calls. The table was staffed by a volunteer and people were only supposed to borrow the phones, donated by Verizon, on a call-by-call basis.
Howell allegedly took a phone and used it throughout the weekend.
State police Lt. John T. Leyden III said the phone was found early yesterday morning at the Route 95 off ramp to Route 117.
Maj. John J. Leyden Jr. said Howell's was the only missing-person report that the police found suspicious. He said that contact numbers provided by Howell did not work and several questions were raised when Howell was interviewed by West Warwick and state police.
Governor Carcieri said during a news conference yesterday afternoon that the number of missing-person reports now matches the number of bodies found at the nightclub.
"It's very upsetting. . . You've got us turned upside down trying to keep track of, have we got people missing and so forth," Carcieri said. "Obviously we're all angry. That's not something -- I have no idea what the motivation for someone to do that would be, but I credit the state police and the West Warwick police to have ferreted that out rapidly."
Carcieri said that as the number of victims to be identified dwindled, it was easier to spot the false claim.
"The law enforcement people did a great job and flushed that out," he said.
While this appears to be the first scam related to the fire which has claimed 97 lives and sent 187 people to the hospital, other tragedies have also brought out people trying to take advantage of others' generosity.
After the Sept. 11 collapse of the World Trade Center, aid organizations were defrauded out of at least $2.5 million. Several people claimed family members were lost. Others withdrew money above their account balance knowing that a bank computer system was damaged by the attack. One official at the city's morgue was charged with selling coffins that had been donated for the victims.
HOWELL, WHO the police say is a handyman without a full-time job, appeared in court yesterday wearing a red and black Chicago Bulls jacket, black jeans splattered with white paint and a pair of work boots.
He attempted to enter a guilty plea for all the charges, but LaFazia would not let him, "because it is very likely that. . . you will be serving a jail sentence." She also said that Howell might want a lawyer and that she wanted him to undergo a mental evaluation before allowing him to enter a guilty plea.
LaFazia set bail at $4,000 with surety. Surety bail requires 10 percent in cash or the full amount in property. Howell must undergo the mental-health evaluation as a condition of his release.
As of last night, Howell had not posted bail and was being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Albert A. Bucci Jr. A pretrial conference is scheduled March 12 and a trial on March 24.
Howell is also wanted in Georgia on charges of writing fraudulent checks and as a probation violator, Detective Sanzi told the court. Georgia does not want to extradite him for the charges, Sanzi said.
Howell was also arrested by the Warwick police on Jan. 26 for allegedly driving with a suspended license. He was stopped at 3:30 a.m. at the intersection of Warwick and Atlantic Avenues. A court hearing on that case is set for March 26.
