Johnston Police Find Cranston Credit Card Fraud Suspect Hiding In Wall

arrested Steve Barone, of 15 Usher Ave., Cranston, on two outstanding court warrants for credit card fraud on Oct. 24 after officers reportedly found Barone hiding inside the wall of a service station on Plainfield Street in Johnston.

Lt. Robert Abbruzzese, Sgt. Megan Boulet, and Ptlmn. Derek Parascandolo and Stephen Altomari went to Competitive Auto Body, located at 1707 Plainfield St., to find Barone, who was "known to rent a garage bay" there, according to Parascandolo's report.

As the officers began looking for Barone, the station's owner Arcangelo Dibiasio arrived and told them that one of his tenants had called to report police on the property.

Dibiasio reportedly told the officers that he'd been having problems with Barone "and that Barone owes him approximately $6,000 in back rent," Parascandolo wrote in his report.

After finding that lights were on inside the garage and hearing "voices and various articles breaking," Parascandolo wrote, Dibiasio "pried open a piece of metal that was covering a broken-out window" to see what was happening inside.

Dibiasio reportedly told the officers that he saw Barone running toward the back of the building, and Parascandolo reported that he saw another male lying on a couch in the garage's office.

Officers went into the garage after Dibiasio opened the office door, and the man in the office identified himself as Steve Sarchione, of 29 Auburn Ave., Johnston.

Sarchione claimed he was alone in the building, Parascandolo reported, but the officer said he then heard "loud noises and banging coming from the back of the garage."

Parascandolo and Altomari went with Dibiasio to check out the noises.

Inside a second office, Dibiasio told the officers that one of the file cabinets concealed a hole in the wall "big enough for someone to hide in," Parascandolo reported.

Once they moved the cabinet, the officers found two men hiding inside the wall. The first was Barone; the second was identified as Randy Lempitsky, of Providence.

A check of Lempitsky's criminal record found two outstanding court warrants, one from Third Disrict Court and the other from Providence Superior Court, both for failure to appear.

Lempitsky was taken to police headquarters, processed, and sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

According to police, Barone faces two felony charges of fraudulent use of a credit card brought by Johnston Police, and misdemeanor charges of credit card fraud and receiving stolen goods valued at less than $500 brough by Cranston Police.

Barone was arraigned in Third District Court in Warwick on Oct. 25 and released on $2,000 bail with surety on the credit card fraud charges, and $1,000 with surety on a separate bail violation.

He is scheduled for a Nov. 9 pre-trial conference on the Cranston charges, and a Dec. 12 pre-arraignment hearing on the Johnston charges.