Home invasion suspects apprehended

3 adults, 1 juvenile charged in Thursday night incident

Daniel Kittredge
Posted 3/28/14

"It was a great piece of police work by all the officers and detectives involved in the investigation, and four dangerous individuals were taken off the streets and brought to justice within moments of the crime being committed,” said Cranston Police Maj. Robert Ryan.

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Home invasion suspects apprehended

3 adults, 1 juvenile charged in Thursday night incident

Posted

Three adults and a juvenile were quickly apprehended following a Thursday night home invasion off Pontiac Avenue in Cranston.

"It was a great piece of police work by all the officers and detectives involved in the investigation, and four dangerous individuals were taken off the streets and brought to justice within moments of the crime being committed,” said Cranston Police Maj. Robert Ryan.

Curtis Gomes, 18, of 186 Eastwood Ave. in Providence; Jodi Johnson, 42, of 1168 Westminster St. in Providence; and a 17-year-old from Pawtucket are all charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

Calvin Johnson, 37, of 721 Main St. in Pawtucket, is charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, resisting arrest, reckless driving, eluding police and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.

Police responded to the scene in the city’s Eden Park section just before 8 p.m. Residents at the premises reported that while they were watching television, there was a knock at the front door followed by a male voice claiming to be a police officer. The subject then “barged into the home waving a silver handgun and claiming to be a police officer,” said Ryan.

At least one resident of the home is a registered marijuana caregiver, according to police.

One of the home’s residents said the suspect – described as a heavy-set black male wearing a thick winter jacket, a winter hat and a mask – demanded money. The resident’s brother, also home at the time, then let dogs loose on the intruder, and the man was chased from the home.

The suspect at that point ran one street down and jumped into a silver Chevrolet Malibu, which took off in the director of Reservoir Avenue. Ryan said Detective Ronald Fuoroli spotted the suspect vehicle heading east on Park Avenue nears its intersection with Pontiac Avenue.

After a brief pursuit, Fuoroli stopped the vehicle after it intentionally struck his cruiser at the intersection of Park Avenue and Potter Street. At that point, a passenger in the back seat fled on food to the read of the Atomic Salon. The other three suspects – Gomes, the juvenile and Calvin Johnston, who was the driver – were taken into custody as additional personnel responded to the scene.

A search then began for the fourth occupant of the vehicle with assistance from a Warwick Police Department K-9 officer. That suspect, Jodi Johnson, was found hiding in the bushes in a backyard on Auburn Street and taken into custody.

Jodi Johnson was believed to have been the subject who entered the home with the handgun, and officers subsequently searched the area for the weapon. Officer Matthew Schaffran discovered a silver pistol on the ground in a yard behind the Atomic Salon after noticing what appeared to be fresh damage to a wooden fence.

All three adult suspects were arraigned in District Court and ordered held without bail. Jodi Johnson was found to have an active Parole Board warrant for his arrest, and Calvin Johnston – the driver of the vehicle – was discovered to be a Superior Court violator with five probation violations in District Court. The juvenile suspect was adjudicated in Family Court.

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