PROVIDENCE — A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says that the Providence Police Department dropped the ball last year when it twice arrested a man, now suspected of rape, for other crimes and failed to check on his status as an illegal immigrant who had been ordered deported.

The Providence police counter that they passed the information about the arrests of Marco Riz, 26, of Providence, to the local ICE office, but the federal agency didn’t bother taking any action to have him sent back to Guatemala.

“This is an attempt to find blame,” said Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman. “This department is not interested in finding blame. We are interested in fighting crime.”

Providence police records show that Riz was arrested twice last year on charges of drunken driving and domestic assault.

On Sept. 12, in the city’s West End, Riz was charged with driving under the influence of liquor and drugs, refusing a chemical breath test for alcohol and driving with a suspended license. He was held overnight at the police station and arraigned the next day in District Court.

He pleaded no contest to driving under the influence, first offense, and had his license suspended for three months. He also was ordered to perform 10 hours of community service and attend classes on alcohol education.

On Feb. 24, Riz was involved in a drunken brawl with three other men inside his apartment at 71 Linwood Ave. in the West End. He was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault for striking one of the men. The charge was dismissed two weeks later.

The status of Riz’s immigration slipped past the Providence police, state court system and ICE. The Providence police speculate that Riz may have fallen through the cracks because ICE no longer has an immigration officer assigned to District Court. He retired about a year ago.

On June 8, the police allege that Riz kidnapped a 30-year-old woman as she sat in the passenger seat of an idling SUV in the parking lot of a Stop & Shop supermarket on Quaker Lane in Warwick. Riz is accused of robbing the woman, driving her to Roger Williams Park and raping her there. A few days later, a task force of Providence, Warwick, ICE, state police and federal marshals captured Riz on Linwood Avenue. He has been charged with kidnapping, carjacking, assault with a dangerous weapon, a knife, first-degree robbery and first-degree sexual assault. He has been ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Michael Gilhooly, spokesman for ICE, said that the Providence police should have used the agency’s NLTS telecommunications system to check on Riz’s immigration status. He said that the police would have learned that a federal immigration court, in 2003, had ordered Riz to leave the United States.

Asked why immigration authorities did not move to deport Riz five years ago, Gilhooly said that he was in this country illegally, but there was no evidence that he was a “criminal.” As a result, he was released from custody.

Gilhooly said that the Providence police rarely use the ICE computer system. He pointed out that since Oct. 1, Providence has checked on the immigration status of only two people. Statewide, he said, there have been about 350 requests, mostly from the state police and other state agencies.

“We know that Providence knows how to use this system,” Gilhooly said. “But they are not a heavy user of the system.”

Esserman and Kennedy said that for more than 20 years the Police Department has faxed to the federal agency’s Providence office a list of suspects scheduled to be arraigned in District Court on criminal charges. They said that no one at the agency ever objected to the practice until last month.

They produced an informal e-mail sent to Kennedy from David P. Riccio, the agent-in-charge of ICE in Providence, which said that the system of faxing the names of suspects to him “is not efficient and does not assist ICE in identifying threats to public safety.”

Esserman and Kennedy also said that Providence police officers routinely call ICE to check on the immigration status of suspects in crimes. Detectives in major crimes and the gang-prevention unit are in constant communication with the local ICE office.

Another way to address the issue would be to have the ICE immigration checking system included in the National Criminal Identification Center database. For example, a police officer who stops a suspected criminal can type the person’s identity into the NCIC computer. NCIC will tell the officer whether there are outstanding warrants for the suspect anywhere in the United States. The system, does not, however, provide any information on someone’s immigration status.

Gilhooly said that ICE has offered to provide the Providence police with an agent to help them with immigration issues, but the offer was turned down. Esserman and Kennedy said that they would welcome the help, providing that the agent assists them in helping prosecute illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity. They said they are not interested in tracking or apprehending law-abiding residents who are here illegally.

Esserman has come under attack for saying that he is not willing to check on the immigration status of everyone the police come into contact with. He said that it’s important for the police to develop trusting relationships with immigrants, even those who are here illegally, if the police want to solve crimes.

For example, the police say, that an illegal immigrant will not come forward with information about a violent crime if they feel they might be questioned about their immigration status.

“We’re open to anything that is effective in fighting violent crime,” Esserman said.

bmalinow@projo.com