Three men allegedly beat and robbed a male student Sunday at 4:46 a.m. near the back entrance to the Gate, said Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police for the Department of Public Safety.
The men used a knife and a crowbar in the attack and robbed the student of his cell phone and other belongings, Shanley said. He could not comment on details surrounding the victim’s physical injuries but said they were not life-threatening.
DPS officers arrested the three men, along with a fourth accomplice, near the intersection of Brook and Lloyd Streets soon after the assault, Shanley said.
“All four of the people were charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy, and they are being held without bail pending a bail hearing,” Shanley said. He added that because this incident qualifies as first degree robbery — a term the Rhode Island state’s website defines as robberies involving “dangerous weapons” or resulting in victim injury — the suspects could receive life sentences if convicted. The minimum sentence for first degree robbery is ten years and the suspects face possible fines of $15,000 each, according to state law.
Officers were notified of the assault when the victim’s friend called DPS, Shanley said. The three suspects involved in the assault fled south and met with the fourth before getting into a car, he said, and added that the suspects were in the car when they were identified and apprehended by DPS.
“One of our officers had observed a vehicle containing men with a description that had matched the description given by the victim,” Shanley said. “When he stopped the vehicle with the assistance of other Brown police officers, four people were taken into custody and the victim’s cell phone was discovered in the car.”
The suspects have been identified as Chad Pelliccio, Alexander Mandeville, Manuel Delgado and Erik Pacheco, Shanley said. He added they are all eighteen and ninteen years old and residents of Cranston, R.I., and none of them has any affiliation with the University.
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