WOONSOCKET – A city man is facing felony charges in two jurisdictions after he got caught in Park Square with a shopping cart full of merchandise stolen from CVS and prescription tranquilizers stuffed in his pants, police said.
Jamar A. Goggins, 34, of 242 Vose St., is charged by the Woonsocket Police Department with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, obstructing police and resisting arrest. The North Smithfield Police Department also booked him for felony shoplifting and released him on a court summons before he was handed to city police.
Acting on information provided by the NSPD, Woonsocket police began looking at a suspect in the theft of merchandise from the 24-hour CVS store in North Smithfield’s Dowling Village shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 4. They spotted Goggins a few minutes later as he was wheeling a loaded CVS cart near Park Avenue and Oakton Street. One thing that might have helped officers pick him out in the dark was his unique attire, including an illuminated LED light attached to his forehead.
Goggins was arrested at gunpoint after after leading Officer Andrew Griffith on a foot pursuit through private property. He was arrested after a struggle with Griffith and at least one other policeman, Officer Cody Horner. Police reports say Griffith drew his firearm mainly as a precaution, because Goggins has a history of carrying weapons and making threats to police.
Local police did not provide an inventory, but Griffith’s police report says Goggins was, “pushing a CVS cart full of what was later determined as stolen CVS merchandise.”
In addition to the booty from CVS, police said Goggins was in possession of 33 doses of benzodiazepine, a tranquilizer, without a prescription.
Beyond the police charges, state prosecutors have moved to have the Sixth District Court declare Goggins a violator of probation on two prior convictions, including one for possession with the intent to deliver an ounce to a kilo of fentanyl, plus several related charges, for which he was sentenced to five years probation, effective March 23, 2023. He had also been sentenced to 350 days probation, following 15 days to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions, after a conviction for obstructing police on Feb. 7, according to the judiciary’s web site.
Goggins has been arrested at least two dozen times since 2008 on charges that include felony domestic assault, breaking and entering, obstructing police, resisting arrest and drug possession, according to the judiciary’s web site.
Follow Russ Olivo on Twitter @russolivo
Crime is not at an all time low. The conviction rate is low. The criminal justice system has become a catch and release program. Take away the “lets make a deal” from the lawyers on both sides, and see where crime really is.
Crime statistics are compiled from report & arrest data, not convictions. Those from the FBI and everyone else I can find support my conclusion. Do you have any competing numbers I could look at?
And this is what happens when you let people back out who shouldn’t be out in society.
Just another example of someone who should be locked away and then throw out the key. Seems like that’s all we hear/read about lately……
Why? Who’d he kill? Odd to me to care so much about CVS merchandise when CVS certainly doesn’t care about you.
Well JoshW, he had tranquilizers and has other charges for Fentanyl. So if he did not kill someone yet, it looks like he was on that path. Not sure why you support him in this endeavor but it says a lot about your character.
I asked why someone arrested for shoplifting should be locked up for life, and why people get so upset on behalf of corporations. Never ‘supported’ anyone, that’s a really long road to hoe.
Unsure why you escalated that to attack my character, way to be be civil
Clueless, what’s wrong with that statement is its more prevalent today and so is crime. Sooner or later, you will wake up!
Crime rates are at an all-time low, where are you seeing all this crime?
JoshW you are so uniformed. Might be time to turn off CNN.
Why not answer the question? Where do you see all this crime?