Police Get Report of Shots Fired, Arrest Man for Carrying Knife Instead

Newport police charged a 19-year-old Newport man with weapons law violations Thursday night after he was allegedly carrying a large knife following an investigation into a report of a fight between a group of people near Park Holm.

Initial reports stated that shots were fired during the incident, but police said they found no evidence of a gun being used during the fight, which allegedly occurred at around 6 p.m. near a city maintenance shed on Hillside Avenue.

According to a police report, a witness who lives in the Park Holm complex told police that he was driving south on Hillside Avenue when he saw a group of men fighting in the middle of the street near a stopped school bus.

As he approached, one of the men involved in the fight ran behind his truck and fired two shots from a handgun, police said.

As police were speaking with the witness, a group of six men walked by, including a person who matched the description of the alleged shooter.

Police stopped the group at gunpoint and searched them for weapons. One of the men, identified by police as Mailk Hernandez, 19, of 217 Park Holm, was carrying a seven inch Cutco serrated kitchen knife, police said.

No handgun was found.

The group of men denied being involved in the fight.

A search of the area where the shooting occurred turned up no evidence that any shots were fired in the vicinity.

The school bus driver at the scene of the fight told police that she saw six to 10 men “fighting up a storm” but she didn’t hear any gunshots because the bus heater was operating and the children on the bus were yelling due to the scene unfolding outside the bus.

Hernandez was taken into custody without incident and later released with a Feb. 18 summons to appear in Newport County District Court.

WARRANT
Newport police arrested Luke C. Benson, 43, of 9 Tilley Ave., Newport, on Thursday at 5:20 p.m.

Police said Benson was seen inside a car traveling on Farewell Street and an officer on patrol was aware that there was an active Family Court warrant for his arrest.

He was taken into custody without incident.