Man accused of hitting DEA agent with car faces judge

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WLNE) — The man accused of hitting a Drug Enforcement Administration agent with his car in Middletown faced a judge Friday.

39-year-old Justin Deprospo, of Rochester, Mass., allegedly attempted to run the agent over in the parking lot of Home Depot on West Main Road while they were making a controlled drug purchase as part of an investigation.

Police shot at his car, and a chase ensued, ending on Ridgewood Road with Deprospo taken into custody.

Police said he sold “pills with meth inside,” adding that he starting ramming unmarked vehicles when they attempted to make the arrest.

The injured agent was pinned between the hood of Deprospo’s car and another vehicle.

Both he and Deprospo suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Marilyn Green, who lives on Ridgewood Road, said she was driving on West Main Road at the time of the chase.

“I saw cars going in different directions and I remember calling my boyfriend thinking I was caught in a high-speed chase,” she said.

She said residents were left in the dark about the incident when she asked an officer for details, who told her she’d “hear about it on the news.”

“This stuff does not happen in Middletown, especially on my street,” Green said. “I was not expecting that at all.”

Police added that they also searched an Airbnb that Deprospo was staying at in Portsmouth and found 154 pills.

His girlfriend, 34-year-old Melanie Higgins, was also charged in connection to the case.

The judge ordered Deprospo held without bail, and he will have a bail hearing within ten days.

The incident remains under investigation by multiple agencies.