Police Investigating Report of Man Peering into Child's Bedroom Window

CRANSTON, RI—An unsettling report of a man caught peering into a child’s bedroom window before being scared away by her father at the Dean Estates apartment complex on Oaklawn Avenue recently is under investigation by Cranston police.

Cranston Police Lt. Russell Henry said that the incident is on “the front burner” for police, who responded to the apartments at around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night and found a pocketknife nearby but nobody matching the suspect’s description.

The incident as described by the girl’s father, Joey Tiberi, burned up Facebook since he described stepping outside to take out the trash when he saw a heavyset bald man bent over “trying to look into my daughter’s bedroom windows.

“I chased him down Oaklawn Ave. barefoot and couldn’t catch him,” Tiberi said, adding that police found a knife on the ground.

The post, which was shared more than 5,200 times as of Sunday morning, incited fear and alarm, especially for parents.

But Henry said that the suspect might have been looking for something to steal and the incident might not have been the case of a possible abductor, but instead, a thief.

The apartments were severely flooded in 2013 and residents were forced out from the damage. Since then, the buildings have been under extensive repairs and renovations and the construction site has been a target for thieves, Henry said.

“I don’t think anyone can say for certain what the guy’s intention were,” Henry, noting that he could have been checking to see if someone was home.

“A lot of the apartments had been vacant for a period of time and things were taken, like utilities and copper and even tools,” Henry said.

Crews are still working on some of the apartments and people are moving back in.

“There have been a bunch of breaks over there in those two buildings,” Henry said.

Despite the possibility that the man found peering into the window might have been a thief and not a kidnapper, police are taking the matter very seriously, Henry said.