Police Search Escalated When Men Took Selfies With Marijuana Jar on Police Car
GoLocalProv News Team
Police Search Escalated When Men Took Selfies With Marijuana Jar on Police Car
A police officer was bitten by one of the suspects and taken to the hospital and was treated. He was later released.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTUltimately, three men were arrested.
According to Providence Police documents secured by GoLocal, "On 7/23/25 at approximately 2334 hours Investigator Malloy and I (Investigator Campbell) of the Violent Crime Task Force were in the area of the Hartford Ave Housing Complex in an effort to dissuade and deter firearm-related violence. As we were operating our police vehicle on Bodell Ave our attention was drawn to a group of approximately ten individuals in the parking lot of REDACTED Ave surrounding a white sedan.”
The police report states that wgeb officers followed one of the men, things quickly escalated.
"I then began to search the vehicle in an attempt to locate a [redacted] due to the totality of the circumstances, while searching the vehicle a crowd began to form around Malloy while he was dealing with REDACTED causing me to leave the car and assist Inv. Malloy with crowd control. While assisting Inv. Malloy, Daniel Espinal [AND REDACTED WERE] increasingly encroaching on us. Espinal was advised to move back multiple times which he failed to do so REDACTED," according to Police documents.
Selfies with Marijuana
Police continued, "The crowd began to back up, allowing me to return to the vehicle to finish the search. As I completed the search, Malloy and I noticed multiple subjects gathering around our police vehicle. We then walked towards our car, at which time we noticed they had placed a [mason jar of marijuana] on the hood of our police vehicle and were posing for pictures in front of the vehicle.” SEE THE 3:30 MARK OF THE VIDEO
Police said they then tried to place one of the men in custody, and the crowd began to swell. According to police, that man resisted arrest.
Then, said police, a crowd of ten to 15 people began to surround officers.
"Luis Cruz [redacted] causing him to lose his balance at which time other patrol officers on scene were able to grab ahold of him. While trying to effect an arrest on Cruz he tucked his hands towards his waistband area and became tense not allowing officers to place him into custody. Cruz was placed into custody. REDACTED With the help of other arriving officers, Francisco was placed into custody. Cruz and Francisco were searched incident to a nest and placed in placed vehicles. While dispersing the crowd, a subject identified as Edison Concepcion Dominguez, continued to be disorderly by yelling at officers and refusing to vacate the area. As patrol officers attempted to place Concepcion Dominguez into custody he fled on foot. After a brief foot pursuit, he was placed into custody. He was then searched incident to arrest and placed in a police vehicle," according to police documents.
All three subjects were transported to the public safety facility.
According to police, Malloy’s camera shows Luis Cruz picking up Malloy's body-worn camera and walking away before throwing it, which came to a rest in the grass. Both body-worn cameras were able to be recovered.
Arrests and Charges
According to police, the following individuals have been charged:
