Raw, but c*nsored blabbing and blogging of a young journalista
and local news producer in Southern New England.
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Sunday, April 17, 2005

Developing Now in Providence

TopStoryLive operatives have observed marked police activity overnight in Providence.

-- Your local news outlets will have details in the morning on an incident that brought seemingly every Providence police officer on the streets back to the Public Safety Complex with all speed around midnight. It sounds like something happened inside the cop shop.

-- Later, about 1:00 in the morning, a TopStoryLive operative saw Providence's famed artist space/band venue AS220 cleared out.
A bystander told TopStoryLive, "Nobody.... really... knows what's going on."
It appeared that police had ordered everybody out of the venue, some 20 people.
TopStoryLive could see a police officer and club employee working at a cash register near the window, then the officer moving quickly to the sink and the club employee madly grabbing napkins, while another bystander exclaimed "He [the police officer]'s washing his hands!" and another said parts of the scene reminded him of the CBS show C.S.I.
Providence Police cars lined the block of Empire Street where AS220 is.
A Rhode Island State Police cruiser appeared to be assisting.
UPSHOT: It's unclear if this is a hazardous materials situation.

-- Another TopStoryLive operative saw about the same time the street shut down on Washington in the area a block away from The Strand nightclub, away from the center of town. Police officers were combing the scene, and had an SUV stopped in the middle of an intersection, its hatchback open, crime scene tape across Washington, blocking both directions, and extending up the street towards the club. Nobody was able to offer any information, but one officer in the middle of the scene, near the SUV yelled to his colleagues, "We're almost done! About five minutes more!"
UPSHOT: It's unclear if this was a bust or arrest.

Also watch later this morning for a story in Fall River.

Labels: Originally published

... Scribbled by Bill T ... 4/17/2005 02:37:00 AM ... Email this entry ...
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