WESTPORT - A stolen first edition of "The Works of Edgar Allen Poe" was among the items that police say was recovered after a Little Compton man drove his car off Sodom Road in Westport last Friday morning.
Luther Parente, 20, of 305 Long Highway was arrested at around 9:05 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, after Westport police received a call about a one-car motor vehicle crash in the area of 900 Sodom Road. Police said Mr. Parente had obvious signs of injury but initially refused medical attention from the Westport EMTs. Police said Mr. Parente agreed to return to Little Compton and was cooperating in the investigation. He was later treated at Charlton Memorial Hospital.
Mr. Parente's vehicle was wanted in connection with a housebreak in Tiverton and thefts following break-ins at Gray's Store in Adamsville, the apartment above it. He was also wanted by Westport police in connection with an August break-in at the Elephant Rock Beach Club in Westport Harbor.
Police said Grayton Waite, the owner of Gray's who lives in the apartment above it, identified several items inside Mr. Parente's vehicle as being stolen from his property. During an inventory of the stolen goods, police were able to connect Mr. Parente with at least one additional break-in which occurred in Tiverton earlier that morning.
Little Compton Police Chief Sidney Wordell said his department is working with the attorney general to determine charges to be filed.
He said that among the items stolen from Mr. Waite was an 1850 edition of a book by Edgar Allen Poe. The break-in at Gray's occurred around 7:15 a.m. A witness to the robbery obtained Mr. Parent'e vehicle registration number. Among the other items stolen from the apartment were books, a video cassette recorder, a DVD player and prescription drugs. Stolen from the store were jewelry, cigars, cigarettes, lighters, coins from the cash register, bottles and potato chips.
Westport Sgt. Jeff Majewski said the thefts from the Elephant Rock Beach Club included electronics and liquor and that there was damage to the building from the break-in. Mr. Parente was also arrested on a Massachusetts warrant that had been entered under a misspelled last name in the computer.
In addition to the earlier warrant, Mr. Parente is being charged with two counts of receiving property worth more than $250, possession of a class E drug (prescription pills) and operating to endanger. He has similar pending charges in Rhode Island where he has been out on a $1,000 surety until a later court appearance.
The incident remains under investigation by Westport officers Mike Silvia and Gary Cambra and Sgt. Majewski. Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call Westport police at (508) 636-1122.
