PORTSMOUTH — Here are some highlights from the Portsmouth police log from over the past week.
Tuesday, Feb. 24
A small deer that apparently had been struck by a motor vehicle on West Main Road near Patriots Park was euthanized shortly after 6:30 p.m. by a police officer using his service firearm. The deer had a severely fractured leg and had been panting heavily, police said. The R.I. Department of Environmental Management was notified of the dead deer’s location.
Saturday, Feb. 28
Erik P. Richter, 21, of 95 Willow Lane, was charged with driving while intoxicated (second offense) after the Toyota Selica he was driving overturned in the parking lot of Island Day School shortly before 1 a.m., according to police. When officers arrived at the corner of Sprague Street and Bristol Ferry Road, they found Mr. Richter crawling out of the driver’s seat. He told police he had been driving home from a friend’s house and his car lost control on Sprague Street before hitting a snow bank and turning over. Police said Mr. Richter’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, he had slurred speech, and there was an opened Heineken beer bottle inside the car.
Sunday, March 1
Firefighters extinguished a car fire on Massasoit Avenue shortly before 7 p.m. No one was in the Jeep Grand Cherokee at the time of the fire. The owners were inside their home when they said they heard a loud “bang” outside and looked through a window to find the vehicle engulfed in flames. Firefighters said the blaze originated from the trunk of the vehicle, but they could not determine how.
Monday, March 2
Police responded to the area of East Main Road at Sherwood Drive for a report of a disabled motor vehicle around 6 p.m. The driver, Christopher Vaillancourt, said he was traveling north in the left travel lane when his car struck a large pothole, damaging its front fender and possibly the suspension.
Police responded at 6:37 p.m. to a report of three disabled motor vehicles at the intersection of East Main Road and McCorrie Lane. All three drivers said their vehicles had sustained damage after hitting a large pothole in the left, northbound lane of East Main Road. At 7:12 p.m., police went back to the same area after getting another report that a car was disabled after hitting the same pothole.