MPD Arrests: Man Says Arrested By Accident, Two DUIs

Unless otherwise noted, the following incidents were reported by the Middletown Police Department.  If you would like to provide a different account, you may either comment on the article or submit a longer account here. 

Man Says Arrested By Accident
Joseph Antone, 58, of 5 Bradford Ave., Newport was arrested on Friday on charges of a bench warrant out of the Second District Court for failure to appear on an original charge of possession of a weapon other than a firearm and for driving with a suspended license. 

Middletown police said Antone was recognized by a cross agency photo out of the Newport Police Department. 

According to the report, Antone told police he believed the warrant was issued in error and it was supposed to be for his son, Joseph Antone who was born in 1981.  According to the case number, 21-2006-02766, the birthdate of the original case was 1981.  Middletown Police said the birthdate on the warrant issued by the courts matched Joseph Antone with year of 1955.  According to records, the payment was applied and there are no outstanding warrants for the younger Antone or his father. 

Two DUI Arrests
Middletown police arrested Derek Mure, 25, of 7 Canochet Dr., Portsmouth, on Saturday, Mar. 2 at approximately 1:19 a.m. on a drunken driving charge of .15 or greater.    Police said Mure was pulled over because he was driving erratically and speeding approximately 20 mph over the limit on West Main Road.  

Police said when he was told to roll down the window, Mure lowered the back window and started speaking as if his driver’s window was down.  Mure allegedly told the officer he was intoxicated but asked if he could drive to his friend’s house.  Police said his speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol.  There were multiple 50 ml bottle of alcohol in the car, said police.

He allegedly refused several of the field sobriety tests because he said he was intoxicated and wouldn’t pass, said police. At the station, he registered a breath sample of .18 around 2:00 a.m.  Mure was also cited for speeding, presence of alcohol while operating a motor vehicle, failure to use a turn signal and a laned roadway violation.   

Middletown police arrested Rita Pine, 59, of 726 Park Ave. Apt 5, Portsmouth on Saturday, Mar. 2 around 9:49 p.m. on suspicion of driving under the influence. She was also cited for refusal to submit to a chemical test.  A driver called police to report that a Pontiac was driving erratically on West Main Road.

Police said they found the suspect car and observed she was driving erratically.  Pine allegedly said she was going home, but became confused and said she had to find a laundromat, said police.  She failed the field sobriety tests and was brought into custody.