"Dangerous" Double Burglary Suspect Meo Captured

Cranston Police arrested double burglary suspect Anthony Meo, 41,  after he fled the scene of a crash following a high-speed police chase that started on Route 37 in Cranston and ended in East Providence on Saturday.

Cranton Police said Meo was taken into custody around 11:30 a.m. today after a raid at an Ortoleva Drive house in Providence.

 the Pontiac and Dean Estates neighborhoods in Cranston Friday night.

police quickly identified Meo as a suspect based on "intelligence previously gathered" and when Lt. Alan Loiselle was responding to the second burglary off Mayfield Avenue he saw Meo drive past him in the opposite direction on Route 37 near Tasca Ford.

Loisells turned around and radioed for backup before following Meo's vehicle.

Meo sped up as a chase ensued. He go onto Route 95 heading north and then entered Route 195 East. After exiting onto Taunton Avenue, or Route 44, he rear ended a vehicle, causing him to lose control at which point he also struck a Cranston Police vehicle, police said. There were no injuries.

Meo fled the scene on foot and remained at large until his arrest this morning.

Police discovered his whereabouts after video surveillance related to the Meo case was obtained and Cranston Det. Erik Baccari spotted a man in the video that led them to the Ortoleva Drive address "where Meo was likely to be holed up," Cranston Police Major Robert W. Ryan said in a release.

A task force consisting of Cranston Police, State Police, the State Police Fugitive Task Force and the United States Marshals set up surveillance and eventually saw a man matching Meo's description through a window. That "prompted the decision to close in and he was taken into custody shortly thereafter without further incident," Ryan said.

Meo's "lengthy criminal record" includes several violent crimes and "he was regarded as extremely dangerous," police said.

Along with the Cranston warrants, there was a State Police and a parole detention warrant out for Meo at the time of his arrest.

The Cranston Police investigation was spearheaded by Detective Sergeant Michael Pezzullo who was assisted by Detectives Jaime Cahill, Erik Baccari and Paul Bessette.

Meo was arraigned tonight at Cranston Police Headquarters in the Municipal Court.

The Cranston charges are two counts of burglary, two counts of felony receiving stolen goods and eluding a police officer during a pursuit.

The State Police are charging Meo with leaving the scene of an accident.