Suspect in East Providence chase faces additional charges after arrest in Coventry

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — New charges have been filed against a Florida man who led police on a miles-long chase in East Providence last week.

Joshua Pavao, the 43-year-old suspect, is now facing 12 additional charges after he was arrested by Coventry police on Tuesday.

Pavao is set to be arraigned on those new charges on Wednesday morning, after the initial 116 charges related to Friday’s chase.

Tuesday’s body-worn camera video shows some, but importantly not all of the chase that took place on Dec. 1, ending with a three-car crash and hundreds of rounds of ammunition strewn across the street.

East Providence police release body-worn camera footage of a call for shots fired into a house on Estrell Drive which led officers on a chase, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (East Providence police)

Police released the video Tuesday afternoon, showing the initial incident on Estrell Drive, moments during the chase, and the aftermath of the crash.

Police say the gaps in video, including the crash itself, and an officer driving into a home, are due to those detectives pulled into the chase not having cameras.

“There’s two reasons. First, one of the officers involved was a detective and he did not have a body-cam. And the other officer did have a body camera but the technology that causes the body camera to activate when the lights are turned on was not in that cruiser, it was an older model cruiser, so his camera was not activated either,” explained East Providence Police Chief Christopher Francesconi.

Friday’s incident led to 116 charges against Pavao, a former marine, including 106 felonies. Coventry police added an additional 12 charges Tuesday evening based on the East Providence investigation.

East Providence police body-worn camera footage shows a heavily damaged vehicle on Taunton Avenue after a suspect led police on a high-speed chase. (East Providence police)

Those new charges include four counts of modifying semi-automatic weapons, four counts of other weapons prohibited, and four additional courts of large capacity feeding devices.

But even more charges could be on the horizon.

“Charges, in the coming days. The motive, we’ll see where the investigation takes us, I’m not really sure on that,” Francesconi said.

Police say they are still figuring out where Pavao was going, and why he had that much ammunition.

East Providence police release body-worn camera footage of debris in the road on Taunton Avenue after a chase suspect crashed into several vehicles. (East Providence police)

“We are doing absolutely everything we can to give our community answers. I want the answers, the deputy chief wants the answers — the entire police department, the entire city — we are working at that to provide answers as to, again what was the end game here. We all want to know that,” Francesconi said.

Francesconi further praised his team’s response to the rapidly developing situation that ended without injury.

He also acknowledged parents’ concerns about schools not going into lockdown as the chase passed by the high school and elementary schools.

“One of the things that did happen was that the school resource officers were in communication with the school. The school superintendent, while the pursuit was occurring, called Deputy Chief Ramer and there was some communication there. Of course, we’re extremely concerned about the children’s safety,” Francesconi said.

East Providence police body-worn camera footage shows Joshua Pavao, 43, being arrested after allegedly leading officers on a high-speed chase and shooting at a house. (East Providence police)

Francesconi further stated that the department will look at its response as it always does after an incident like this.

Police say Pavao was living part-time in the Rhode Island area, and was a suspect in a previous incident, but was not charged with any crimes.

Pavao is expected back in court in the East Providence case in March of 2024, and will be in court Wednesday for the 12 new charges from Coventry.

Coventry police said he was being held by their department.