Cops Seize Six Rifles, Charge Men with Firing in a Compact Area

Cranston Police have charged two men with firing in a compact area for allegedly shooting up a broken down car in a wooded area in western Cranston.

Police said one of the men owned a .22 caliber rifle that they believe was used when a stray bullet struck a house on Apple House Drive a few days earlier.

According to police, Carlton A. Rotondo, 21, of 311 Olney Arnold Road and Ryan Fullerton, 22, of 220 Fieldsone Lane, Saunderstown, were seen and photographed by a nearby resident on Aug. 8 as they drove up and down Comstock Parkway and Olney Arnold Road on four wheelers, one of them carrying a rifle strapped to his back.

Police were dispatched to the area around 6:15 p.m. for reports of shots fired. Police were on high alert due to the stray bullet incident a few days earlier.

Officers soon zeroed in on Rotondo's address and when they got there, they saw Rotondo and Fullerton sweating profusely and acting nervously. They matched the subjects seen in the photographs, police said.

Police said both men told admitted to driving the four wheelers and shooting at the broken down car.

Both men were charged with firing in a compact area and will face additional traffic violations for driving on the roadway without licenses. 

Six rifles were seized from Rotondo's Olney Arnold Road residence. 

Police noted that one of the rifles accidentially fell off the table in the police evidence room and its wooden stock broke in half.