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4 RI men charged in multistate theft ring targeting luxury vehicles. What to know.
How to Protect Your Car from Catalytic Converter Theft
Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise due to the valuable metals inside. Learn about the surge in thefts and effective ways to safeguard your vehicle from becoming the next target.
PROVIDENCE – Four young men from Rhode Island have been named in an indictment that accuses them of stealing about 120 high-end vehicles, worth about $5 million, from 12 dealerships in other states last year.
The four conspirators, including two Providence men, a Cranston man and a North Providence man, targeted auto and motorcycle dealerships across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said in a news release.
The men took Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Land Rover and other vehicles in a conspiracy that was investigated by the FBI with help from numerous local police departments, federal prosecutors say.
Law enforcement has recovered 41 stolen vehicles and 11 dirt bikes, securing most of the vehicles in either Rhode Island or Massachusetts, they say.
A $96,000 Jeep
A surveillance video obtained by Providence police shows two men, who look like two of the conspirators, putting a cover over a vehicle valued at $96,000, prosecutors say.
The scene, which involved a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, unfolded in a Providence driveway last year, prosecutors say.
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The Jeep and three other vehicles, they say, had been taken from a dealership in Hempstead, New Hampshire, two days before.
Another SUV stolen by the group, a Range Rover, was found in a shipping container in Elizabeth, New Jersey, prosecutors say. The container was bound for Africa.
Stolen motorcycles in a North Providence garage
In another case, the conspirators stole 19 premium Husqvarna motorcycles from a dealership in Phillipston, Massachusetts, according to prosecutors. The motorcycles were found in the garage of a conspirator who lives in North Providence, the release said.
Rhode Island men accused of leading roles in multi-million dollar theft ring. What we know.
The same 28-year-old defendant brokered stolen vehicles to a network of associates, including some people who lived in Rhode Island, prosecutors say.
Seven Rhode Island police agencies provided substantial assistance to the FBI, according to the release.
Six Massachusetts police organizations as well as criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service and the National Insurance Crime Bureau also assisted in the investigation, prosecutors say.
KILLINGLY, Conn. (WTNH) — A Rhode Island man has died after he crashed his pickup truck into a house Wednesday night in Killingly, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police said the 2023 GMC Sierra was traveling westbound on Route 101 in the area of Valley Road when it failed to negotiate a curve around 10:20 p.m. The truck left the roadway and struck mailboxes, a street sign, and a residential structure.
The driver, identified as Matthew James Sherman, 42, of Foster, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly -
Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly
State police said the home sustained “catastrophic” damage. The front of the house was “destroyed,” according to the report, and the rest of the home had structural damage.
The house was searched by Urban Search and Rescue and found to be unoccupied at the time of the crash.
Route 101 between Chestnut Hill Road and Bailey Hill Road was closed for several hours, but reopened just before 5 a.m.
The Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad also assisted.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Above: The May 4, 2026, bell ringers, from left, Town Clerk Leigh Carney, Councilor Caryn Corenthal, Councilor Renu Englehart, Sen. Bridget Valverde, Councilor Mark Schwager, and Town Manager Andy Nota. It was 250 years ago Monday, May 4, that Rhode Island took the bold step of announcing its independence from England and the crown. Rhode […]
Which ‘Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ stars want to do Season 2?
Reporter Paul Edward Parker asks cast members of the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” if they’re up for another season of the Bravo TV show.
Paul Edward Parker
It was in a Rhode Island court that “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” heated up as a Cranston woman sued the husband of one of the cast members for slander.
The legal fireworks started April 13, when Brian Pontarelli, husband of “Real Housewife” star Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, sued Beth Walker of Cranston in Superior Court, alleging that she violated a confidentiality agreement in another lawsuit by “making public statements and social media posts” about facts related to the earlier lawsuit.
On Tuesday, May 5, Walker fired back, calling the confidentiality agreement illegal and unenforceable, saying that Pontarelli broke it first by talking on “Real Housewives,” and filing a countersuit saying that he made false, “defamatory and disparaging” comments on the “Real Housewives” main show, as well as during a podcast and an after-show live broadcast. She is seeking unspecified damages.
A past affair, current speculation and a national audience feed lawsuit
Walker particularly identifies the April 26 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” when host Andy Cohen brings back stars from the show, which was taped last year, for further discussion. In this episode, Brian and Rulla talk about how their marriage has survived his cheating with another woman.
One of the subplots of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” which is midway through its first season, is whether or not the affair Brian had is still ongoing. Texts and social media posts by an unnamed woman, whom the cast refers to as “the mistress,” feature in several episodes.
What Beth Walker has to say
Reached by The Providence Journal on Wednesday afternoon, May 6, Walker’s lawyer, Frank L. Orabona Jr., said that she can’t tell her side of the story right now.
“A public narrative has been created around my client, but narrative and facts are not always the same thing,” Orabona said. “As this unfolds, the evidence will tell a very different story.”
Post-show discussion and podcast fuel drama in court
In the April 26 “Watch What Happens Live” episode, in which Walker’s suit says Pontarelli “discussed a romantic relationship … in a defamatory and disparaging manner,” Rulla and Brian talk about his affair with “the mistress,” also referring to her as “the cockroach.”
Walker’s Tuesday filing also served as her answer to Pontarelli’s suit, and she asked the court to toss his claim based on 16 separate grounds.
Among other things, Walker’s filing says:
- “Walker’s speech relates to topics of public concern being discussed weekly to a nationwide audience of millions of viewers.”
- “Any comments made by Walker were truthful, not disparaging, related to matters in the public domain and/or were made in good faith.”
- “As a result of the national publicity of the show, information related to [Pontarelli’s] personal, romantic relationships is public knowledge nationally across the United States and locally in communities throughout Rhode Island; and is otherwise in the public domain.”
- “It is inequitable and unfair to allow [Pontarelli] a national platform to discuss topics to a coast-to-coast audience and prohibit Walker from speaking on the same topics and/or from correcting false information being spread by [Pontarelli] or others.”
- Prohibiting her from commenting would violate the state and federal constitutions’ guarantee of free speech.
No hearings have been scheduled in the case.
Pontarelli’s lawyer, Jessica L. Basso, declined to comment on the case.
This story has been updated with new information.
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