EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Three drivers - including one who hit a police cruiser - were arraigned Sunday on drunken-driving and other charges after a string of incidents that began when a minivan hit a utility pole around 1 a.m.
East Providence police said this was the sixth police cruiser hit this week.
The latest incident began around 1 a.m. when Jennifer Chacon, 21, hit a utility pole on Warren Avenue, splitting it in half, according to East Providence Lt. Raymond Blinn.
Police believe she may have fallen asleep at the wheel, with two passengers, including a toddler, in the vehicle. None had serious injuries.
About 50 minutes later, David Brewer, 48, of Collegeville, Pa., spotted the police lights as he was driving back to his hotel near the scene of the original accident, thought it was a sobriety checkpoint, looked for an alternate route, got lost and ended up in an argument with one of his passengers, loud enough to prompt a call to the police, Blinn said.
Blinn said police tracked the car with the Pennsylvania plates to Amaral Street, where Brewer was charged with driving under the influence, and taken into custody.
Another driver, Bailey Hardy, 22, of North Smithfield was arrested about 50 minutes later for DUI and possession of marijuana after she drove "at a steady rate of speed" towards an officer who was diverting traffic at the closed intersection where utility crews were working on the pole.
When the officer moved out of the way, Blinn said, Hardy's vehicle hit the cruiser, mounted a curb and hit another pole.
Joseph Anthony, 31, was arrested and charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license after he came upon the scene about 50 minutes later, and drove around the officer directing traffic, and "headed towards the crew working on the pole,'' Blinn said.
Two were released on $1,000 personal recognizance and the third - Brewer - on $500 with surety, after a mid-day arraignment at the East Providence police station by bail commissioner Fausto Anguilla. All three are due in 6th Division District Court on Thursday to face the charges.