Portsmouth and Newport Detectives Team Up to Arrest B&E Suspect

NEWPORT, RI — Carlos Rodriguez, Jr., 25, of Newport, was arrested at 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday near the Newport County Superior Court. He was charged with obtaining money (less than $1,500) under false pretenses and with receiving stolen goods.

Both are misdemeanors, police said.

Portsmouth police had been investigating a breaking and entering that occurred in their community on Nov. 29, according to the police report. Some items were stolen. One of the stolen items, a Microsoft tablet, turned up at a pawnshop on Broadway, Newport. Detectives matched the serial number on the pawned item with the Portsmouth resident's records. The pawnbroker told police the item had been pawned for $300 on Dec. 2 by Rodriguez.

He returned to the store allegedly to pawn jewelry around 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The shop owner notified Portsmouth police, and they contacted Newport police with information he was a passenger in a gold Toyota Camry. Police spotted the car parked outside the Second District Courthouse.

Newport police later arrested Rodriguez after they stopped the car near the courthouse. They searched the car and found a class ring and a gold crucifix, which detectives suspect may have been stolen.