Ex-stripper takes stand in chief's case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - A former stripper was the first person to take the stand in the trial against suspended North Providence police chief, Col. John Whiting.

Whiting is accused of stealing $714 from Justina Cardoso's purse following a police chase last August, and then asking a Pawtucket police officer and that city's chief to cover up what happened.

Testimony in the case got underway before Judge Daniel Procaccini Monday after Whiting, 58, declined a jury trial.

• Related: North Providence police chief arrested

According to an earlier affidavit filed in the case, Cardoso, 21, of Pawtucket, said she worked as a stripper at the Satin Doll and earned $200 from the strip club and another $600 from a man she spent the night with at the Comfort Inn in Pawtucket.

Cardoso, who admitted there was a warrant out for her arrest, was a passenger in the SUV which Whiting was chasing last August. According to the affidavit, she took off after the SUV crashed in Pawtucket, leaving her purse in the vehicle.

The affidavit reveals that following the chase, Whiting handed over a wad of cash to Pawtucket police officer John Brown, admitting he lifted it from the chase vehicle, and stated: "I've never stole anything in my life and I know you like to go to Las Vegas, take this money and have fun, don't say anything about it."

• PDF: Read the affidavit

According to court documents, Whiting then phoned Officer Brown and told him not to say anything to the state police if they questioned him. State police were listening in on the call at the time, according to the affidavit.

Whiting "further encourage[d] Officer Brown to lie to his chief and how to go about doing so in order that it is handled by [Pawtucket Police] Chief [Paul] King and not the State Police," the affidavit states.

Whiting was the head of the North Providence Police Department for three years following 29 years as an officer in Pawtucket. North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi suspended Whiting without pay after his arrest.

Whiting has pleaded not guilty.

Target 12 Investigator Tim White contributed background information to this report.