East Providence Man Among 3 Charged In 'Construction Theft Ring'

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — An East Providence man and two others from Rhode Island were charged in connection to a theft ring targeting storage trailers on construction sites throughout Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts.

Richard Alves, 48, of East Providence, and Arthur Hopkins, 45, of Providence, were arrested and charged with three counts of larceny of $1,2000, larceny of a motor vehicle, three counts of conspiracy, two counts of breaking and entering, and malicious damage to a motor vehicle. Swansea, Massachusetts police also issued an arrest warrant for Robert Gustafson, 44, of Burrillville, who is facing three counts of conspiracy.

On Jan. 12, Swansea police responded to a report of a stolen storage trailer containing numerous tools from a construction site on Barneyville Road. The trailer was found a short time later in the parking lot of an elementary school in Cranston, with all the construction tools stolen from the inside, police said.

After an initial investigation, Swansea Police Detective Eric Thibault was able to identify a possible suspect from surveillance footage near the school.

Over the course of the investigation, Thibault learned of similar incidents occurring in Somerset, Seekonk, and Middletown over the past few months.

In the Somerset and Middletown incidents, a suspect vehicle similar to the one identified in Cranston was seen on security footage.

With help from multiple agencies, an investigation that started in Swansea and ended in Providence led detectives to identify Alves, Hopkins and Gustafson as suspects who they believed were involved in the theft ring.

Since Alves and Hopkins were arrested, about $400,000 in stolen tools were recovered, Swansea Police Chief Marc Haslam reported.

"We would like to thank our local law enforcement partners who assisted us with our ongoing investigation, which ultimately led to us obtaining arrest warrants for the three suspects involved in this multi-jurisdictional case," Haslam said. "Thanks to the collaborative effort, we were able to recover a large amount of stolen tools, which will be given back to their rightful owners. I would also like to commend Detective Eric Thibault for his excellent police work in helping to identify the suspects in this case."

Alves and Hopkins are being held at an adult correctional institution in Rhode Island and are awaiting extradition to Massachusetts to be arraigned in Fall River District Court.