By VINAYA SAKSENA

CUMBERLAND — A man identified as a suspect in a possible armed robbery Friday afternoon has been arrested and arraigned after a pursuit that involved several police agencies and ended in Valley Falls.

As a result of the investigation, 45-year-old Edward Rodrigues of Newport was arrested in the area of Dexter Street in Cumberland, according to Col. Joseph Moran, chief of the Central Falls Police Department. He is facing a charge of first-degree robbery.
According to Moran, the investigation began at approximately 1:51 p.m. on Friday, when police received a call reporting an armed robbery at the Rite Aid Pharmacy location on Broad Street in Central Falls. It was believed that the suspect — later identified as Rodrigues — may have been armed, but Moran said no one was hurt in the incident.
Rodrigues is believed to have stolen an undisclosed amount of money from the store and then fled the scene in a car.
Police were not releasing many details, but a Call photographer witnessed a Toyota vehicle with Connecticut license plates that had smashed into a telephone pole in the area of Pleasant Street in Cumberland. Moran said a police vehicle had blocked the vehicle’s passage, though he said he could not confirm whether or not the plates belonged to Rodrigues’ vehicle.
After abandoning the vehicle, Rodrigues allegedly led officers on a chase through a residential neighborhood, which involved police units from Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Attleboro, the Rhode Island State Police, and the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office (Massachusetts), with units that happened to be in the area at the time.
According to Lincoln Police Chief Brian Sullivan, the arrest was made by Central Falls Police, with help from Lincoln Police Officers Edward Krawetz and Kevin Marcoux. Moran commended and thanked all of the departments involved, a sentiment echoed by Sullivan.
“It was fantastic police work,” Sullivan said. “It’s a great example of cooperation among all the agencies that were involved. Officer Krawetz has been on the force for over a decade, and this is just another feather in his cap. Again, this is an example of the dedicated men and women who work for departments not only here in Lincoln, but also in the Blackstone Valley. They got the job done right.”
Moran said that Rodrigues was being held at Central Falls police headquarters, and a supervisor there said an arraignment for the suspect had taken place. According to Moran, it was not certain as of press time whether or not Rodrigues had a prior criminal record. A check of state judicial records came back negative for charges under his name.

With reports from Staff Writer Jon Baker and Staff Photographer Ernest A. Brown