EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- An alert teenager, part of the police department's Explorer program, helped foil a motorcycle robbery overnight, Police Lt. Armand Garo said.
The 16-year-old East Providence boy, who declined to be identified through his mother, spotted three men walking on Donnelly Street around 2:30 a.m. Monday.
"Within 20 minutes, all were caught," Garo said.
Looking out his window, Garo said, the teen relayed to police dispatch that the three men kept looking around, as if to check that no one was watching. At one point, Garo said, two of the men darted into a driveway and emerged with a motorcycle; the three, the teen said, started pushing the motorcycle down the street trying to start it.
The young police explorer, Garo said, relayed the men's descriptions and their general direction of travel.
Officers Stephen Rodrigues, Richard Rodrigues, Roland Estrada, Brian Mulvey, Steven Tiernan, Sanda St. Laurent, Charles Walkup and Sgt. Samuel Luke cordoned off an area from Donnelly Street to Laura Street, South Broadway, and Warren Avenue, while dispatchers Daniel Evans and Keith McCarthy coordinated the officers' locations in the yard-by-yard search, Garo said.
Officers arrested Eduardo Rodrigues, 23, of 426 Lonsdale Ave., 3rd floor, Pawtucket, Garo said. Rodrigues, Garo said, had tried to pick up the other two, who were being chased on foot by police.
Within 15 minutes, Garo said, as the search area narrowed, officers corralled Kevin Gamboa, 21, of 23 Privet St., and Shawn Puello, 24, of 35 Rhode Island Ave., both in Pawtucket.
The police recovered a backpack filled with burglary tools, such as bolt cutters and screwdrivers.
No injuries were reported. The motorcycle, a 2009 Honda 600 CBR, was recovered undamaged.
The three men face felony charges of larceny of a motor vehicle and conspiracy to commit a felony. A first appearance in Providence District Court is scheduled Monday.