SCITUATE, R.I. (WPRI) — An armed Providence man arrested while riding his bike through a rural section of Scituate was found to be carrying a homemade silencer and a black journal with “lots of writing and paperwork stuck between the pages,” according to police.

Donald Rodriguez, 21, was arrested Monday shortly before 6 p.m. and charged with seven counts, including four counts of carrying a large-capacity magazine, possessing prohibited weapons and possession of a silencer.

According to an arrest report, the officer noticed “an orange Gatorade cap screwed to the end” of a rifle inside a bag that was slung over the suspect’s shoulder.

“I located a large Gatorade bottle which had bottles secured inside of it,” Officer Joseph Paliotte wrote in the report. “Which appeared to screw/mount on to the Kel-tec firearm as a homemade silencer.”

In a backpack, Paliotte wrote he also found three high-capacity loaded pistol magazines and another magazine in the rifle bag, which in all contained more than 70 rounds of ammunition. The backpack also contained a rifle that is designed to fold in half.

Also seized was a makeshift knife made out of a pair of scissors and crude sheath, along with a black notebook. Asked about the nature of the writings in the book, Chief Eric Rollins said in an email, “the book and paperwork are mostly, as I would describe, as self-reflection entries. Similar to a diary.”

“I can’t go to in-depth due to the case still being investigated,” he added.

What Rodriguez was doing in Scituate is still unclear. He told the arresting officer he had ridden his bike from Providence.

Police were initially called to Tunk Hill Road “for a male party flagging [down a] motorist” just west of the Scituate reservoir.

When Paliotte approached Rodriguez, “the male party stated he was out for a long bike ride and wanted to see the water.” 

The officer said he spotted the bag around Rodriguez’s shoulder and recognized it as one designed to carry a firearm. “I could see the butt of a long gun sticking out of the end of the bag,” he wrote.

Paliotte said he asked the suspect if he was armed. “He immediately started walking away from me, walking with his bike, in an effort to leave,” Paliotte wrote.

The officer took Rodriguez into custody after a short scuffle.

They also found a Halloween-style “Scream” mask and a pair of black gloves with a “white plastic skeleton pattern on the knuckle side of the hand.”

Rodriguez remains in custody and is scheduled for a competency hearing on Feb. 28. He has no defense attorney listed in court records.