High-brow heist master settles for Samsung Some could argue the man famed with bargaining with the FBI to arrange the return of $300 million in art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has sunk to less lofty goals.  Myles Connor, 69, famed art thief and one-time rocker, was arrested July 5, for robbing a woman of her cell phone at gunpoint in an attempt to get her to pay a debt.  According to reports, Connor allegedly accused the woman of owing him money when she asked him for a cigarette during a friend's social gathering. After he allegedly put a pellet gun to her head, Connor and his …

Driver completes 64-second keg stand, boasts to police A University of Rhode Island student was charged with Driving Under the Influence after police pulled him over on June 27 and his passenger reportedly blurted out that he completed a 64-second keg stand earlier that night but that he "only had a few." According to reports, police allegedly witnessed the 20-year-old driver run over a curb in a police department lot and drive through a red light before an officer eventually caught up to him. Police asked the student to submit to field sobriety tests, which they said he failed. He was …

Must’ve Been a Darn Good Sandwich… One allegedly intoxicated North Kingstown teen decided to take the “law” into his own hands after discovering that his brother had done the unspeakable — stolen and eaten his sandwich. The 18-year-old man came home later that night, reportedly intoxicated and “out of control,” to discover that a sandwich he had been saving for himself was no longer in the refrigerator, but in his brother’s digestive tract. According to reports, the teen sought his vengeance by slashing a tire on his brother’s car. The man allegedly fled the scene after assaulting a family …

Just Let Love In, Lady One Narragansett teen’s drunken profession of love was harshly rejected with a call to police this past week. The teen reportedly began banging on the door of a Narragansett home around 1 a.m. and began screaming, “Let me in, I love you.” Unfortunately for the teen (who thought he was outside the house of a friend who was hosting a party), the 52-year-old woman who lived there wasn’t feeling the love.She told the 19-year-old man to leave and promptly called police. Police later caught up to the man and his driver, who told officers that his passenger was “extremely …

My Co-Pilot Is Yukon Jack A Smithfield man's New Year's Eve drive through Johnston had a smashing finale — literally. Police reported that they found the man's 1993 Thunderbird off the side of the road with major front-end damage from an apparent accident. They suspected he'd been drinking. According to the police, the man did admit to drinking and driving — and trying to toss a couple of 'nip' bottles of Yukon Jack into nearby bushes. He reportedly failed a field sobriety test, but refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Ma’am? I Think You Forgot Something… A Cranston police officer got quite a…

Here's a look at this week's arrests from around the region:  A Very Taser Christmas Police arrived to the house of a 56-year-old North Kingstown man after he allegedly assaulted a woman while highly intoxicated. Apparently, the man’s very un-Christmas behavior wasn’t exclusive to the woman he allegedly assaulted. After flicking a lit cigarette at one officer, the shirtless man (yes, shirtless) was hit with a Taser. The man was hit with the Taser two additional times after becoming increasingly more violent. When it was all said and done, the man had assaulted four officers (shoving one …

Trying to Get on Santa’s ‘Nice’ List One North Kingstown woman had a unique way of trying to get on Santa’s “nice” list this year. South Kingstown police responded to the Wakefield Mall and arrested the 52-year-old woman after she reportedly shoplifted five DVDs – “Cinderella Man,” “Hellraiser,” “Alpha Dog,” “Direct Action” and “28 Days Later” – from FYE. Coincidentally, it wasn’t the only commotion she caused at the mall that day. While investigating the alleged shoplifting, police spoke to the man portraying Santa Claus at the mall who told officers that the woman did a bit more than get …

Christmas Tree Becomes Victim in Domestic Dispute   After becoming upset over a family issue, one Middletown man did the only rational thing possible: he took it out on the Christmas (or holiday, if you so please) tree. Police arrived at the man’s house at about 1 a.m. this week for reports of domestic disturbance. At the home, officers reportedly found the living room and kitchen in disarray and Christmas ornaments scattered about the floor. No tree was in sight. The man reportedly directed officers to the back door, where he had thrown the Christmas tree outside in his anger. Basketball? …

A 45-year-old Cranston man risked his own life while stealing copper wires from utility poles to sell the copper as scrap. He was caught in the act of cutting ground wires from utility poles on several city streets, and he was charged with felony larceny. "This is the first instance I've heard of someone actually pulling the ground wire from the poles," said David Graves, a spokesman for National Grid. "It's one of the most foolhardy actions you can take. It's foolish for someone to grab hold of a ground wire and start cutting away with a metal device or tool. It's inviting injury and could …

Woonsocket police officers had to deal with more than an unruly 32-year-old man when they went to arrest him outside his apartment – they had a crowd of bystanders cheering and chanting as the suspect battled officers. When officers put the man on the ground for a pat-down, he allegedly kicked backwards and hit one officer in the groin. That sparked cheers from the crowd. The man reportedly continued to struggle inside the police cruiser, kicking the inside window of the car, threatening to assault officers, and stating that his sister was a lawyer and he would sue. At the police station, he …

A North Kingstown criminal who failed in his first attempted robbery apparently learned quickly, improved his tactics and succeeded an hour later in a second convenience store. The man walked into one convenience store wearing a hooded sweatshirt, ski mask and gloves and demanded money in the cash register – but showed no weapon. The clerk, after asking the suspect if he was "kidding," refused to empty the register. About an hour later, the man walked into a second convenience store – but this time he flashed a box cutter. This clerk complied, and the man ran out with about $200 in cash. …

When a Cranston police officer approached a 50-year-old Providence man riding his bike while toting a white bag the night of Nov. 1, they asked him what he was doing. "I'm out here stealing," he said. "Stealing is what I do." The man was wearing a coat that was "bulging," police said. He had been going into unlocked cars and lifting GPS systems and more. He was arraigned, ordered to pay restitution and serve a one-year suspended sentence. Just five days later, he was back at it. Officers were called around 2:30 a.m. for a report of a man on a bicycle stealing from a car. This time, officers …

A couple of men tried their best to hide the drugs but failed when Woonsocket officers pulled them over. The first clue was a heavy smell of marijuana inside the car. A passenger told officers that he had smoked marijuana two hours earlier, while he appeared to be fidgeting with something on the floor of the car. When the driver got out of the SUV, he tried to make a cell phone call with one hand, while reaching inside his jacket with the opposite hand. He pulled out a bag containing a white substance and put it in his mouth. The officer reached into his mouth to grab the bag, but the 29-year…

A Providence woman faces charges of larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she allegedly took the youth she was babysitting on a shoplifting trip to Burlington Coat Factory in Johnston. According to police, store staffers said the woman let the kid put several items in one bag, then covered up the stolen goods with bags of merchandise that she'd purchased legally. The woman fled the store when loss prevention staffers tried to stop the pair — leaving the child behind. The kid — who was charged with larceny and released to the custody of her family — identified the woman…

Train Collides With Car By River Street, Pushing Vehicle 50 Feet A Coventry man with a 13-year-old passenger in his car took a wrong turn while following GPS, got the car stuck on railroad tracks in Woonsocket and had to leap from the car moments later with a train bearing down on them. The train was traveling just 25 miles per hour but the conductors couldn’t stop it, and they slammed into the 1998 Volvo. Nobody was hurt, but the car was destroyed. Toddler drives cart into carA 2-year-old boy had his first brush with the law when he climbed into a golf cart at Clark Farm in South Kingstown, …

A would-be high school volleyball coach with a colorful criminal history didn't get too far in his hopes for a job in Johnston, after school administrators discovered he had lied on his application and forged FBI documents. The Cranston man’s application immediately raised red flags, particularly the criminal background check. Instead of coming on official Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office letterhead, it arrived on a blank piece of paper purportedly from the FBI. He also submitted a fake e-mail pretending to be the FBI. The man, who was stepping in for a coach who is suddenly ill, …

Two men took their road-rage confrontation to a higher level when they stopped on a Route 24 off-ramp and one man drew a loaded gun and pointed it at the other. The second man fought back by driving his pickup into the gun-wielding man’s car, pinning the driver’s door closed. The 55-year-old with the gun climbed out the other side of the car and continued to point the gun. When a third man drove up to see what was going on, he was told to get out of there. Not surprisingly, he did. But the two combatants weren’t alone for long. The cops showed up and ended the confrontation without bloodshed…

You think your town had a bad week, check out North Kingstown. First, they discovered a man’s partially decomposed body in the back seat of a pickup truck that had been sitting in a public parking lot for a couple of weeks. Then this little storm called “Irene” rolled through, and if that wasn’t enough, a tornado touched down briefly in one neighborhood. The next day, two people were sent to the hospital after a house fire that started in a powerless home from either a gas grill or a candle. The next day, a nasty two-car accident forced firefighters to use the Jaws of Life to get the driver …

Wrong Number, Weirdo A Seekonk teenager reported this week that she had been receiving phone calls from someone with a Washington number who was soliciting sex. She said her number is not on a social networking site. Her mother was notified and was advised to ask Comcast to block the numbers. Lover’s Revenge An East Greenwich woman reported this week that her phone number had been used in a fake personals ad. She said she believed it was posted by her ex-boyfriend, who she’d complained about to police earlier in the day. Alleged Creep with a Camera A Massachusetts man was issued a no-trespass…

Teen attacks babies with ‘fart spray’A 15-year-old California boy was arrested on three counts of felony assault with a dangerous substance, after he allegedly sprayed a Newport toddler and baby with "fart spray" while they were being walked by their mother in a stroller down Memorial Boulevard. The mother said she was walking with her 2-year-old and newborn when the teen came up on a bicycle and began spraying her children with an unknown substance from a white aerosol bottle. He then rode away. The mother said the infant was covered in the substance, but neither child appeared to have any …