Woonsocket Police Arrest Man for Attempting to Break Into Apartment He Sublet

Woonsocket Police Officer Jesse Nunnemacher found Jeffrey McDermott, 38, of 390 River St., Apt. 2FL, outside his own apartment June 5 at about 6:50 a.m. when he responded to a call about a breaking and entering.

Nunnemacher listened as McDermott, there with his two children, 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, explained that he'd been sub-letting the apartment to Cassie Ball, 24, for a few months and was attempting to get into the apartment to retrieve a computer he'd left there. McDermott said he'd called Ball at 5 a.m. that day telling her to move out so he could move back in.

When McDermott arrived, he said, Ball refused to let him in, so he began pounding on the door and screaming for her to open the doors. He also said he'd sent his son up the fire escape to bang on the bathroom window to get her attention.

Nunnemacher spoke with Ball, who confirmed McDermott's version of events, adding that she'd been paying him $550 a month in cash to stay there. 

Rhode Island's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Chapter 34-18 provides for terminating a monthly tenant's agreement with written notice, one month in advance.

Ball said McDermott had broken the glass in the front door and also craked the apartment door while kicking it. She said she had been in fear that McDermott would harm her family, and that her boyfriend had barricaded the door with his body to prevent McDermott from entering, and she had called 911. She said McDermott had no property in the apartment.

Nunnemacher arrested McDermott and handcuffed him, transporting him to Woonsocket Police Headquarters. He also took photos of the damage to the door, which had marks on it consistent with someone kicking it.

McDermott was charged with breaking and entering a house without consent, a felony, and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.