Pawtucket officers assaulted during melee outside The Met

PAWTUCKET – Pawtucket police have arrested one man and are looking for more suspects in connection to the assault of police officers during an early morning melee outside The Met Cafe on Main Street. Aderito Andrade, age 23, of 43 Campbell Terrace in Pawtucket, was arrested and arraigned on multiple charges Friday after allegedly punching one officer in the head and then attacking a second officer.

Maj. Arthur Martins said police have not been able to locate any surveillance video of the incident and are relying on testimony from those who witnessed the violence.

On Friday, Dec. 26, at around 1 a.m., Officer Zachary Day was on patrol in the area of The Met when he saw a group of about 100 people leaving a Christmas night event at the venue and "disrupting the flow of traffic," according to police. There were about 15 vehicles stopped in the roadway.

Day asked for another officer to respond to assist and Officer Matthew Mello arrived a few minutes later. The officers cleared traffic and the group began to disperse and start to leave the area. The officers then noticed that a large fight had erupted in a nearby parking lot. As they approached the lot to stop the fight, they saw about 12 men fighting.

The officers' attention was immediately drawn to one man "who acted in an aggressive manner and continued to engage in assaulting others." Mello tried to arrest the man for disorderly conduct, but the man resisted arrest. While Mello was trying to control the man, another man, later identified as Andrade, ran up to Mello and allegedly punched the officer in the side of the head.

Day, who allegedly saw Andrade assault Mello, ran after Andrade and caught him. Andrade then allegedly assaulted Day and resisted arrest. As Day continued to struggle with Andrade, Officers Brian Beech and Diane Rittmann-McLaughlin arrived and assisted with placing Andrade into custody.

During the struggle with Andrade, a large group of people surrounded the officers and started yelling obscenities at them. Rittmann-McLaughlin was kicked several times by unknown individuals during the encounter. Officers then sprayed the crowd with pepper spray to get away and the crowd dispersed.

During the arrest of Andrade, Mello was being tended to by other police and fire personnel. He lost consciousness for a short period of time, suffered a cut to his lip, a cut to the back of his head and swelling and bruising to his face. He was transported to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment. He was released Friday morning and is resting at home.

Andrade was held at the Pawtucket Police Department and brought to District Court on Friday. He was arraigned and charged with assault of police officers and other officials, simple assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $10,000 with surety on the four charges. Andrade was then held without bail as a probation violator from previous charges.

The man Mello was struggling with just prior to being attacked by Andrade has not been identified at this point. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Pawtucket Police Department at 401-727-9100 and ask for either Det. Cute, at ext. 818, or Det. Cardente, at ext. 769.