Crime & Safety
Middletown Police Make Arrest In Fatal Hit-And-Run
A 23-year-old Portsmouth man has been charged in last month's hit-and-run death of a Newport bicyclist on West Main Road.
MIDDLETOWN, RI — Middletown police on Thursday charged a Portsmouth man in a fatal hit-and-run crash on West Main Road last month.
Middletown police said they arrested Paul Gomes, 23, after police said an anonymous tip led them to a dark blue Honda Accord registered in his name. Police had sent out a series of requests for the public's help in finding a "dark-colored sedan" seen racing toward and away from the scene on May 22.
Police told www.abc6.com that the sedan belonging to Gomes, with damage consisted with the crash, was found in a East Providence salvage yard.
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Gomes was held overnight and scheduled to appear in Kent County District Court.
Elias Velasquez Chavez, 40, of Newport, was riding his bicycle on West Main Road when he was killed. The vehicle suspected of hitting Chavez was not at the scene when police arrived.
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Police said the crash occurred about 11:15 p.m. Video surveillance then showed the driver turning around in a Burger King parking lot and heading north on West Main Road as the sedan sped through Middletown back into Portsmouth.
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