Coventry Man Showed Gun Twice In Newport: Police

NEWPORT, RI — Rhode Island State Police on a tip from Newport arrested 28-year-old Marcus Venson, of Coventry. He was taken into custody on Memorial Day at 6:42 a.m. Venson was charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon ( a handgun) and with possession of arms by a convict during a crime of violence, also a felony. The charges stem from two incidents on May 26 in Newport.

According to Newport police, at 10:12 a.m., police responded to a home on Pond Avenue for a report about a disorderly person who had already left. The male caller told police a neighbor across the hall had died overnight, and people were arguing about her possessions. One woman arrived and left. Then her daughter, another woman and two men arrived in a different car. One of the men was known as 'Shocks' or 'Spocks,' the caller told police. He had one foot in a cast. An argument broke out. The caller armed himself with a wooden stick and tried to retreat into the house. Shocks, however, lifted up his shirt to reveal a Western style silver gun.

Later the same day at 2:28 p.m., a woman called police and showed officers a cell phone picture of a man with a gun. She called him 'Stacks,' and said one of his feet was in a cast. She was giving him and her girl friend a ride when he hit her girl friend. She told him to stop. He showed her the gun in his waistband. She took a picture and told police she felt threatened. He left her car and took an Orange Cab on Connell Highway. She told police he was from Coventry and might be headed over the Newport Pell Bridge. Police did not locate him there, but state police took him into custody later.