PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A Providence man who allegedly shot at a city police officer who was responding to a domestic violence call faced a judge Thursday morning.
Luis Roman, 31, was ordered held without bail pending a superior court hearing for a bail violation tied to a prior conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon.
Roman faces 16 criminal counts for the incident early Wednesday morning on Canton Street including assault with intent to commit murder, domestic assault by strangulation, domestic vandalism, and various firearms charges. His attorney waived the reading of the facts in court.
According to police, the officer responded to the area around 4:15 a.m. and when he arrived, Roman fired multiple rounds from a rifle at him.
Police said the cruiser was struck as the officer put it in reverse and retreated, but he was not injured.
“We’re very fortunate the Providence police officer’s alive,” Commander Thomas Verdi said. “That was a high-powered rifle.”
“Six inches higher, three inches to the left, it goes right through the driver’s windshield and he takes it probably right in the chest,” Verdi added. “That’s how fortunate and how lucky we are today that we didn’t have a police officer killed in the line of duty.”
Roman is being represented by former Rhode Island Attorney General Jeffrey Pine, who said he was surprised to hear of his client’s alleged crimes.
“[Roman and his girlfriend] are living together and they have a child,” Pine said. “He has been doing well lately with family and a job, so for me, this is very much out of character for someone who I’ve known for the last four or five years.”
After the shooting, police say Roman went back inside a home then slipped out a back door before more officers arrived, setting off an hours-long manhunt.
Roman was eventually captured at his mother’s home on Sears Avenue, according to police.
