RI man accused of shooting car in traffic incident has been charged

A Rhode Island man was arrested Monday on assault and weapons charges after he reportedly opened fire at a driver in a traffic incident and was illegally in possession of drugs and firearms at his home, Cranston, Rhode Island police said .

Michael Sylvester, 43, has been charged with growing marijuana and on two counts of possessing a large capacity feeder. In Massachusetts, the Franklin Police Department plans to add multiple assault and weapons charges.

Police say a driver made an abrupt turn on a Franklin road ahead of Sylvester around 5pm Friday night before Sylvester accelerated and fired multiple shots at the car. Another car was also hit by gunfire and no one was injured in the incident.

Detectives from the Franklin Police Department, the Bellingham Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police identified Sylvester’s car and found it at his Cranston home. Franklin Police received an arrest warrant and on Monday morning police reportedly arrived at Sylvester’s home and arrested him without incident. They searched the home and found “three handguns, a shotgun, ammunition and several marijuana plants,” the Cranston Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.

Franklin police plan to charge the 43-year-old with armed assault with intent to murder, seven counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of malicious destruction of property worth $1,200 and two counts of firing a firearm within 500 feet of a building, carrying a loaded firearm without a license and illegal possession of ammunition.

Sylvester was arraigned in District Court in Warwick, RI on Tuesday and charged with growing marijuana and possessing a large capacity feeding device on two counts. Accordingly WPRIHis bail was set at $200,000 with double bond for the evasion from justice charge and $10,000 with bond for the other charges.

Sylvester has been ordered to remain in Rhode Island until he posts bail or until lawyers reach an agreement and the Cranston resident is likely to return to court for a special trial next week.