01:00 AM EDT on Friday, October 10, 2003

JOHNSTON

The police charged Michael Swist, 18, of 63 Bingley Terrace, with several drug-related felonies after they discovered marijuana plants growing on his roof.

Deputy Chief Gary W. Maddocks Jr. said Swist was arrested late last Friday afternoon during a raid at his home.

According to Maddocks, the police received a tip that Swist was cultivating marijuana. Narcotics officers and detectives then went to a house that overlooked Swist's and confirmed the tip.

Detectives Alan Ross and Bernard Pisaturo and other narcotics officers then drove to Swist's. They knocked on the door, Maddocks said, but no one answered.

Then they borrowed an aluminum ladder from a neighbor, went round to the back of the building and began climbing up the roof.

Swist approached the officers and asked what they were doing. They told him they were investigating a case and Swist became argumentative. He asked why the cops were busting on him, Maddocks said.

Swist then walked away and entered the house. Ross followed him.

Swist went upstairs, climbed out a second floor window onto the roof and appeared to head toward the officers who were searching for the marijuana plants, Maddocks said.

Ross, fearing for the safety of the other officers, drew his pistol and ordered Swist to stop and get back into the house.

Swist then climbed back through the window. Ross went around to the front door and went in, his gun still drawn. He met Swist as he was coming down the stairs and ordered him again to stop. This time Swist complied, and Ross tried to arrest him.

But Swist resisted, and elbowed Ross in the chest, the police said.

As Ross struggled with Swist, a 16-year-old female who apparently lived in the house began screaming, cursing and hitting the detective in the chest, the police said.

Then a pit bull in the house seemed to lunge at Ross. Fortunately the dog was leashed and couldn't reach him, Maddocks said.

Ross handed Swist off to Pisaturo and then arrested the juvenile, who had followed them outside.

Maddocks said officers discovered a stash of drug paraphernalia from the house, including two marijuana plants, marijuana buds and cigarettes, plastic baggies, glass bowls, pipes, roach clips, scales and a glass bong.

The police charged Swist with cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana, distributing marijuana, assault and resisting arrest. The juvenile was charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana.

Swist was arraigned that night and sent taken to the Adult Correctional Institutions to await a hearing in District Court, Providence. The juvenile was released to her mother pending a hearing in Family Court.

The police arrested Matthew J. DeSimone, 19, of 59 North Williams St., and charged him with drunken driving and allegedly vandalizing a building.

According to the police reports, Patrolmen Robert Lemieux and Scott Chanthaphouvong responded to a report of vandalism at a building on Hartford Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday.

The caller had told the police that the suspect was attempting to leave the scene in a car, and when the officers arrived, they spotted the vehicle driving slowly through a parking lot with its headlights off.

Lemieux stopped the car and spoke to the driver, later identified as DeSimone.

Lemieux smelled alcohol on his breath and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and his hand was bleeding, according to the reports.

Lemieux asked him to step out of the vehicle and DeSimone started yelling, the police said.

Lemieux told him to stop or he'd be arrested. DeSimone refused, and Lemieux took him into custody.

Lemieux then spoke with a resident of the building where a door window had been smashed. She told him she had heard someone yelling and banging at the door. When she looked outside, she saw a white man running away toward a car.

Back at the station, DeSimone refused to take a chemical breath test and denied breaking the glass, the police said. He was charged with drunken driving, refusal to submit to a chemical breath test, vandalism, and disorderly conduct.

The police arrested Brandon S. Enright, 25, of 25 Jackson Ave., after he was allegedly lied to police after a hit-and-run accident.

Patrolman James H. Brady responded to a report of an accident on Saturday morning on Killingly Street. When he arrived at the scene, a witness said she saw a black Honda strike a parked car on the street. The male driver then fled, she said.

As Brady investigated, the Honda pulled up; a woman was driving and a man was sitting in the passenger seat, according to the police report.

The woman behind the wheel, Stacy DiSarro, told Brady that she had hit the car and then drove off. But another witness said it was the male passenger who had been driving.

Brady confronted the passenger, later identified as Enright, who said he was from Foster and that his name was Robert Lawton. Brady spoke to Disarro. He heard her call the man Brandon.

Brady searched the Honda and found Enright's birth certificate on the floor. He then did a records check on the certificate and found that Enright was wanted on two a District Court warrant and a Superior Court warrant. He was also wanted in Fairfax County, Virginia, for grand larceny, according to the police. Brady arrested him.

DiSarro later told police that Enright had been driving her car alone and that he had struck the parked car. He then came to DiSarro's house, told her about the accident. She then accompanied him back to the scene.

Enright was charged with obstructing an officer in the execution of his duty and driving with a suspended license.