Glocester woman badly hurt in crash

SMITHFIELD — The police on Thursday identified the driver in a head-on collision Wednesday evening as Alisha Kelly, 19, of Glocester.

Detective Sgt. Michael C. Rheaume said Kelly was in critical condition in Rhode Island Hospital.

He said that Kelly was traveling south on Farnum Pike when her car struck a curb and crossed into the oncoming lane, where it struck a pickup truck.

The pickup driver, Michael Costa, 42, of Smithfield, and his daughter, 7, escaped with minor injuries, Rheaume said.

Investigators do not know what caused the driver to lose control, Lt. Michael J. Mousseau said Thursday morning.

The accident happened around 8:30 p.m. at the intersection with Old County Road.

— Thomas J. Morgan and Kate Bramson

Man shot, wounded, on friend’s porch

PROVIDENCE –– A local man was reported in serious condition after being shot while sitting on a friend’s porch in the West End neighborhood early Thursday.

Jeffrey Douglas, 39,of Rankin Avenue, was sitting outside 86 Althea St. when a gold Taurus with its headlights off rolled past shortly before 12:30 a.m., said Maj. Thomas F. Oates III.

Then, two men with their faces covered by bandannas ran up and fired at Douglas, continuing to shoot at him as he ran into the living room, Oates said.

Douglas, who was admitted to Rhode Island Hospital, has a criminal record that includes drug dealing and stolen goods convictions, according to court records. The police are investigating why he was targeted.

It’s been a violent week in the capital city.

On Sunday, Ingrid Gonzalez, 34, was found dead of apparent head injuries in her home. Her boyfriend, Johnny Tineo, was arrested in New York.

Late Monday, Randy German, 20, was fatally shot inside the hallway of a multi-family building on Cranston Street in the city’s West End.

On Tuesday night, a man in Elmwood was shot twice inside his residence. Daniel Ross, 34, told police that a man shot him through a glass door at 112 Daboll St.

— Amanda Milkovits

Police: Man tried to abduct Olneyville child

PROVIDENCE –– The police are seeking the driver of a red minivan who they say tried to abduct a 5-year-old boy in Olneyville Wednesday afternoon.

The little boy was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk outside 299 Manton Ave. at about 3:15 p.m., the police report stated, when the man grabbed his hand and told him, “You’re never going to see your family again!”

The boy broke free and ran to his mother, who was on the front porch, said Maj. Thomas F. Oates III.

As she stepped out to see what her son was talking about, she saw a man in his late 30s, in jeans, a green T-shirt, and brown baseball cap outside an older-model red van, Oates said.

The man fled in the van down Steuben Street, Oates said. The license plate on the van matched the registration of a green Ford Mustang owned by a Warwick resident, the police said.

— Amanda Milkovits

Providence man testifies in Pa. murder trial

A Providence man charged with first-degree murder for a shooting in a Pennsylvania bar last year has taken the witness stand against the man accused of pulling the trigger, the Reading (Pa.) Eagle reported.

Eduard Baez-Rodriguez, 24, allegedly drove the getaway car after the killing of Jose A. Rivera, 40, of Reading, on April 1, 2008. He and Reading resident Jose Correa-Sanchez, 23, are both charged as accomplices.

Correa-Sanchez allegedly went into the bar, Topher’s Café in downtown Reading, saw where Rivera was sitting and then reported to Antonetty-Rodriguez, 28, of Reading, the accused shooter, who was waiting in the car.

At a preliminary hearing Thursday, Baez-Rodriguez and Correa-Sanchez both testified that Antonetty-Rodriguez told them as they drove to the bar that Rivera owed him money for cocaine and he was going to kill him.

After getting briefed by Correa-Sanchez, they testified, Antonetty-Rodriguez donned a mask and gloves and went into the bar.

When he came back out, he said he had killed the man, Correa-Sanchez testified.

— Tatiana Pina