NORTH SMITHFIELD – The Cumberland man who was critically injured crossing Route 146 last month was in a fight just moments earlier with a man whose motel room caught on fire in the same area at the same time, in what proved to be a chaotic and confusing night for police.
Jonathan Wilson, 43, of North Smithfield, was charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the events, according to an arrest report obtained by NRI NOW from the North Smithfield Police Department.
According to narrative submitted by Patrol Officer Joshua Guertin, officers were responding to reports of a pedestrian struck on the road in front of Traveler’s Motor Lodge just after midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 8 when they heard loud yelling from the motel.
The victim, who was seriously injured by a sedan traveling northbound in the high-speed lane, was later identified as 38-year-old Adam Belhumeur of Cumberland.
Police responding to the pedestrian strike left Belhumeur with nurses on the scene and ran to the back of the nearby motel, where they spotted the flames.
Guertin noted that police exhausted four fire extinguishers to contain the blaze before firefighters arrived at the scene and were able to put it out.
Wilson, the occupant of the room, reportedly told police he was in an altercation earlier, during which his grill was kicked over. He said he then went into the room and went to sleep, and woke up to see flames coming from his air conditioner.
Officers observed a pile of sticks inside the grill, and Wilson said he did not have coals and needed to cook.
North Smithfield police obtained security footage of the room, which reportedly showed a man kneeling on the ground while Wilson kicked him multiple times. The man leaves the scene just moments before midnight.
“I believe the other male in the video is Belhumeur, based on the jacket he was wearing,” Guertin notes.
Wilson is scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charges on Wednesday, March 25.
