NORTH SMITHFIELD – A North Smithfield man who police say was driving a stolen vehicle without a license was arrested 15 minutes after leaving the scene of the first incident, when an officer reportedly found him walking through oncoming traffic on Eddie Dowling Highway.
Yariel Pena, 19, of North Smithfield, was first cited for speeding and driving with a suspended license, and then arrested soon after, and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of a weapon other than a firearm.
According to police, the incident began with a traffic stop of a vehicle traveling 60 miles-per-hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone on Friday, May 13. Driver Pena said he had just purchased the vehicle after finding it on the online sales platform Offer Up, but did not have a bill of sale.
Both the plates on the vehicle and the car itself were registered as stolen, according to police.
All parties left the traffic stop and 15 minutes later, an officer traveling on Eddie Dowling Highway said he, “noticed the vehicles in front of me slamming their brakes on and swerving.”
“I then witnessed Yariel Pena walking in the opposite direction of traffic directly down the center dotted line,” the officer noted in the arrest report.
Pena reportedly attempted to walk around the cruiser that parked in front of him to block traffic and according to officers, he began shouting obscenities and attempting to flee. A pocket knife measuring longer than the legal length was reportedly found on his person.
Pena was scheduled to be arraigned in 3rd District Court on Tuesday, May 24.
