PROVIDENCE — An Elmwood man with a criminal record was being held in prison yesterday on an unrelated charge after he was involved in a dispute that led to gunshots being fired outside a restaurant, according to the police.

Nobody was hurt, but the shots shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday sent patrons of Carolina’s restaurant and others near Oxford and Broad streets ducking for cover.

During their investigation, detectives encountered one of the men in the dispute, Carlos A. Vincente, 18, whose last known address is 122 Mitchell St., Elmwood, and found he was named in an arrest warrant for allegedly stripping an auto. Vincente had wriggled free of the grasp of a patrolman two weeks earlier when the police said they interrupted some men stripping an auto behind a vacant house in Vincente’s neighborhood.

Vincente was taken into custody and sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Meanwhile, the police kept up the pressure on members of Asian gangs in Smith Hill in the aftermath of shooting incidents Sunday and Monday at Davis Park. Two members of the Laos Pride gang were arrested for public drinking in a park on Camden Avenue, Smith Hill, Wednesday night, the police said.

In the incident on Oxford Street, in South Providence, witnesses told the police that a couple of men were inside Carolina’s and that two or three men entered and an argument erupted. They took their disagreement outside, at which point one of them pulled a handgun and fired. They then ran in opposite directions, witnesses said.

Investigators found three shell casings, one in front of 313 Oxford and two at the rear of 6 Quince St.

Vincente has been arrested three times in 2½ weeks. The first time was April 26, when he was picked up on a warrant for allegedly having failed to appear in court to answer a charge of marijuana possession. Vincente allegedly resisted by kicking, spitting and twisting his body to avoid being held, and was handcuffed.

While restrained, he allegedly taunted officers and called out, “Take these handcuffs off and we’ll go toe to toe.” The police lodged more charges against him, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and he was arraigned and released.

Three days later, April 29, officers tried to arrest him again when they went to 64 Mitchell in response to a report that men were stripping an auto. That immediate area is known as a hot spot for illegal activity, including serving as a dumping ground for stolen auto parts, according to Lt. George Stamatakos, commander of police district 2.

One patrolman got his hands on Vincente, who allegedly was caught stripping an auto, but the suspect managed to get away.

The police encountered Vincente yet again on Monday, when they said they saw him acting suspiciously in a car on Burnside Street. He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. It was not clear why he was not held on the arrest warrant at that time.

A police report of the incident on Monday names two men that were with him — men whom the police say were involved in the dispute two days later at Carolina’s.

gsmith@projo.com