Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

Warwick man charged with theft of RIDOT backhoe

 

An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Warwick man has been charged in Providence County Superior Court with stealing a backhoe belonging to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) in January 2023.


On May 17, 2023, the Office of the Attorney General charged Peter Dambruoso (age 59) by way of criminal information, with one count of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of driving without a valid license.

 

As alleged in the criminal information, the RISP initiated an investigation into the theft of a 1998 John Deer backhoe belonging to RIDOT from a facility in Johnson sometime on January 3, 2023.

 

It is alleged that around 11:30 p.m. on January 4, 2023, a Providence Department of Public Works (DPW) employee witnessed the defendant operating a John Deer backhoe with State of Rhode Island plates in the back of a DPW building on Ernest Street in Providence. The witness confronted the defendant, asking him why he was operating a backhoe late at night, to which the defendant responded that he was a state employee.

 

The defendant then drove away in the backhoe and the witness followed him in a public works vehicle. The witness contacted the Providence Police while following the defendant, and shortly after, officers conducted a traffic stop of the backhoe and took the defendant into custody before transferring him into the custody of the RISP.

 

As alleged, after RISP transported the defendant to the State Police Barracks, the defendant agreed to provide a formal statement. In the statement, he described stealing the backhoe from a RIDOT facility in Johnston and subsequently driving it to the Rhode Island State House and parking it there for a couple of days before moving it again to the DPW building where he was confronted by the witness.

 

The defendant is scheduled for a pre-arraignment conference on August 10, 2023, in Providence County Superior Court.

 

The New York trial of former President Donald Trump is set to resume today with the judge deciding if Trump has violated his gag order. Prosecutors want him fined three-thousand bucks. Trump supporters say it's unconstitutional that Trump is limited to what he can talk about, while everyone else is allowed to speak freely about the case       All ten House Republicans from New York are calling on the Columbia University president to resign. This comes as hundreds of students have occupied the campus for days, protesting the Biden administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war.        The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up the issue of ghost guns. The weapons made from kits and can be bought with no background check. The ATF recently changed the rules, giving the government more power to regulate them. The question now before the high court is whether the A-T-F has the power to change gun rules or if that must come from Congress.       Robert F. Kennedy Junior wants the entire U.S. budget available on blockchain if elected. The Independent candidate said during a rally in Michigan on Sunday that it would allow any American to look at the budget any time. The blockchain is a ledger of transactions that is typically associated with cryptocurrency.        A recent poll suggests professionals in the U.S. are increasingly feeling a shortfall in the support provided by their employers for workplace well-being. This is despite over eighty percent of employees stating the importance of mental health support when seeking job opportunities. The poll by recruitment firm Robert Walters, shows sixty percent of professionals think employers should be doing more to preserve employee well-being.        Popular clothing retailer Express Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to close 100 stores across the U.S.. Express, which also owns Bonobos and UpWest, said it will close 95 of its Express stores and all of its UpWest locations. The retailer said that it received a non-binding letter of intent from a group of investors to purchase the company.        

Old News Archives