Portsmouth Man Accused of Violating a No Contact Order

MIDDLETOWN, RI—A quarrel over cigarettes ended with police arresting a Portsmouth man. Robert Rooke, 29, was charged on Jan. 27 at 8:40 p.m. with violating a domestic no contact order.

According to the arrest report, a Middletown officer was checking the Rodeway Inn property on West Main Road when he heard a woman shouting at a man in Room 104. He called for backup and spoke with the woman, who said she was arguing with her ex-boyfriend over cigarettes.

The officer knocked at the room, and Rooke answered. He told police he did not want the woman staying with him because there is an active no contact order. She is the person being protected.

Police spoke to the woman who said although the no contact order was in effect, he had visited her at work the day before. She told police he called her "at least four times" from the hotel room, and she produced a cell phone record with his number. He asked her to stay at the hotel, and she agreed.

The sergeant spoke with the desk clerk, and the clerk said Rooke told him he was having a visitor. He was taken into custody, police said.