By JON BAKER

LINCOLN  —  Some may refer to it as good ol’ fashioned, 1950s-style frivolity.
Deputy Chief Brian Sullivan calls drag racing not only foolish but downright dangerous.

Here’s why: At about 12:30 a.m., Monday, police responded to a report of this untamed “sport” at a town industrial park on Wellington Road, not far from North Central Airport. When Sgt. Joseph Conti and Patrolmen Thomas O’Brien, Jason Marquis and Jason Bolduc arrived on the scene, they witnessed approximately 25 vehicles parked on the side of the street, while two others were poised for “takeoff” at a makeshift starting line.
Not long after, police arrested Tiago Rebello, 18, of 15 Abby St., East Providence, on assorted charges, including speeding, running a posted stop sign, attempting to allude a police officer and drag racing. The latter two are misdemeanors, while speeding and flying through a stop sign are considered “mere” traffic violations.
“When they got there, Officer O’Brien pulled behind the two vehicles that were believed to be drag racing, and both took off,” Sullivan stated. “Neither one would stop. (O’Brien) followed both of them, but they pulled away. At that point, one operator (Rebello) lost control of his car, went through a stop sign and struck a guard rail pretty hard.
“The officer (O’Brien) was unable to get the registration of the other vehicle,” he added. “When (the officers) got the word, they weren’t all that surprised,” he added. “We’ve received similar calls before.”
Sullivan said teen-agers and “20-somethings” allegedly have posted schedules of such races on the Internet -- at that same location -- in the past.
“It’s been sporadic, but it’s happened,” he claimed. “We try to keep an eye on those kinds of situations, and we try to make it inconvenient for them to come to Lincoln.
“This is really dangerous,” he added. “(Rebello) could’ve been killed. He wasn’t injured, but it looks like the car he was driving (a blue 1996 Nissan four-door) was destroyed … The other car fled the scene and couldn’t be found, but we did stop 11 of the 25 or so spectators’ vehicles, and our officers went through them with a fine tooth comb. They all were issued (citations) for various motor vehicle violations, most of them for driving with their lights off.”
Rebello later was released with a summons to appear at Sixth District Court in Providence on March 7.
Sullivan promised his officers would “beef up” patrol of the area, and they would continue searching for the suspect that alluded police.
Earlier in the weekend, Patrolman Walter Ptaszek arrested two men -- Joseph Corte, 22, of 38 Whipple Ave., Smithfield, and Michael S. Verardo, of 75 Northup St., Providence -- on a misdemeanor larceny (under $500) charge at the Narragansett Bay pumping station near the Courtyard Marriott on George Washington Hightway.
At approximately 5:50 p.m., Sunday, Ptaszek noticed a suspicious white pickup truck with its lights off parked on the aforementioned property, and decided to close in.
“When he stopped the truck, he questioned them, and the operator (Corte) said he worked at a restaurant at Lincoln Mall,: Sullivan noted. “He also said he had stopped by the pumping station earlier asking a someone there if he could take two I beams for scrap metal. When he couldn’t come up with the name of the person he spoke to, the officer spoke with a foreman on site, and he said he hadn’t talked to anyone about (the removal of the property).
“That’s when they were placed under arrest,” he continued. “They were going to sell them for whatever reason, but there was no indication that (the alleged theft) was drug-related.”
Both men were processed at headquarters, and released with a summons to appear at Sixth District Court on March 7.