3 arrests made after minivan crashes

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- A minivan collided with a utility pole, leading police to make arrests unrelated to the crash.

Lieutenant Raymond Blinn of the East Providence Police Department says the crash happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday on Warren Avenue, in front of a Chelo's restaurant.

Police believe the driver fell asleep behind the wheel and veered off the road. She and her two passengers, including a child, suffered only minor injuries. The mother is not expected to face any charges.

Officers shut down the road while National Grid crews made repairs - that's when police say they made three DUI arrests.

According to police, 22-year-old Bailey Hardy of North Smithfield was arrested after she came upon the accident scene, didn't slow down, hit a parked police cruiser and jumped the curb, hitting another pole. 

Blinn said Hardy's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, and she'll also be charged with marijuana possession.

Meanwhile, the driver of another truck, 48-year-old David Brewer of Pennsylvania, refused to drive by the accident scene, thinking it was a sobriety checkpoint. He doubled back and tried to find another way around the scene, got lost, and then got into an argument with his passengers, according to police, that was loud enough for someone to call the police department on them.

And according to Blinn, a third driver, 31-year-old Joseph Anthony of East Providence crossed into the oncoming lanes and drove his car right around an officer directing traffic, and was subsequently arrested and also charged with DUI.

The cruiser that was hit is the sixth East Providence police car to be damaged in the last week - four were damaged last weekend when an armed robber stole a cruiser and hit several others, and a few hours before that incident, the driver of a stolen car hit another police vehicle.

No officers were injured in Sunday morning's crashes.

"Better a cruiser than one of the officers," Blinn said.