NEWS

Providence police: Driver flees traffic stop, crashes, runs away

Brian Amaral
bamaral@providencejournal.com

PROVIDENCE -- A man wanted on a bench warrant and in connection with an investigation out of the Lincoln-Smithfield area fled a traffic stop and then crashed into another vehicle early Monday, Providence police said.

Lt. Roger Aspinall said police tried to pull the man over on Broad Street, but he took off, eventually crashing with another vehicle on Eddy and Public streets. The 49-year-old man fled the scene on foot, but police eventually found him hiding under an embankment under Route 95, Aspinall said.

The driver, identified in a police report as John Marzano, was taken to the hospital, as was at least one other person in the vehicle he crashed with. He was charged with reckless driving, not stopping after an accident involving serious bodily injury, and cited for traffic violations including reasonable and prudent speeds.

None of the injuries were believed to be life threatening, Aspinall said.

According to a police report, Marzano was driving a Toyota Avalon at a high rate of speed when it collided with a Ford Fusion at the intersection of Eddy and Public streets. The force of the collision sent the Fusion into a pole and the Avalon into shrubs outside a law firm, the report said. 

The crash sent the driver of the other car and two passengers in Marzano’s car to the hospital, the report said.