PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- After two plainclothes Providence police officers stopped to talk with a group of Harriet Street gang members outside a house on Sackett Street late Wednesday night, two men stepped out from a side street and opened fire.
Bullets hit the legs of one of the men standing near the officers' unmarked car. As the gang members fled toward 32 Sackett St., Officers Eric Greene and Jonathan Desmarais hit the gas of their Ford Crown Victoria and sped toward the two gunmen, said Police Chief Hugh Clements Jr.
The two shooters, believed to be members of a rival gang, ran as the police barreled toward them. One man jumped into a waiting gray Volkswagen that sped off and left the other gunman behind, said Deputy Chief Thomas F. Oates III.
That launched a police pursuit through the city streets after the car, which police said tried to shake off the pursuit by ramming the back of one police cruiser and sideswiped the officers' unmarked car on Elmwood Avenue.
The chase ended at 38 Depew St., where police grabbed the driver, 23-year-old Vicente Rodriguez, and one of the alleged shooters, 20-year-old James Lawrence -- both from Bodell Avenue in the Hartford area, which is rival gang territory. Both are expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon at District Court on multiple felony charges.
The police also found a .38-caliber Colt revolver and its six shells that Lawrence tossed during the chase, Oates said. It was the 100th gun seized by Providence police this year.
"They did some great police work, courageous police work," Oates added. "I can only imagine driving at someone who just fired at you."
One of the men who'd been standing in the group is recovering from bullet wounds. Anthony Marshall, 18, told investigators later that he'd just been standing outside with the two police officers when he heard the gunfire and realized he'd been shot, Oates said.
Thursday morning, the police were still on the hunt for the other gunman who'd been left behind, and another passenger who escaped from Depew Street.
The police believe the shooters knew they were firing at police officers. The unmarked car's headlights were off, the street was well-lit, and the two officers wore shirts with large lettering "Police," Oates said.
BCI detectives are examining the Crown Vic to determine whether it had been hit by gunfire, Oates said. That car and the supervisor's SUV were both damaged in the chase.
The chief gave Greene and Desmarais credit for their courage. They ducked gunfire, chased the men, held their own in a wild pursuit, and still made the arrest.
"It really speaks to their training and their experience, and their great police instincts," Clements said.