EAST PROVIDENCE — East Providence Police have located a city man suspected in a recent stalking case involving a real estate agent who was showing a home on Heritage Road in Barrington on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The man was taken into custody, questioned and admitted to the claims of the victim. However, there was not enough evidence to press formal charges, according to EPPD Lieutenant Raymond Blinn, who took the suspect’s statement.
The victim in the case, also an East Providence resident, called Barrington Police late last month after the prospective buyer started acting strangely. The real estate agent told responding officers she met the man at the home at about 12:30 p.m., but quickly realized something wasn’t right.
She said the man — he was described as being 5-foot-3, having a slim build, bad teeth and a noticeable stutter — started acting very suspiciously, so she dialed up a friend who lived nearby. The real estate agent’s friend showed up at the home and the suspect reportedly left the house and sped away from the scene in his car.
Later that day the woman was at home in East Providence when the alleged stalker showed up in front of the house; she told police she recognized him because of his car. She said she phoned the suspect while he was parked in front of her home and told him that her brother was a state police officer.
After the woman called Barrington Police, officers used the suspect’s cell phone number to track down his identity, but later discovered the information used to acquire the phone was bogus — the photo ID did not match the suspect’s appearance.
Barrington Police handled the bulk of the investigation but have shared information from this case with the East Providence Police in an effort to track down the alleged stalker, which the latter did late last week, according to Lt. Blinn. The lieutenant added the suspect, 21-years-old, agreed to check-in with the EPPD on a weekly basis and voluntarily seek psychiatric treatment.
— Barrington Times editor Josh Bickford contributed to this report.