Colonel Michael J. Winquist, Chief of the Cranston Police Department, announces that detectives from the Criminal Investigations Unit have arrested a carjacking reported earlier this morning.

At approximately 6:09 am, the Cranston Police Department received an emergency call that an assault was in progress in front of 133 Pontiac Avenue. Multiple Patrol Officers responded and discovered an elderly male lying in the street with multiple injuries from an apparent assault. An investigation revealed that the victim was traveling on Pontiac Avenue when a male subject flagged him down. When he stopped, the suspect pulled him from his vehicle and violently assaulted him. The suspect fled the area in the stolen vehicle (a 2014 Toyota Corolla) with a female subject. Cranston Fire and Rescue transported the victim to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Detectives learned the suspect was possibly at an address in North Kingstown. At approximately 11:30 am, a North Kingstown Police Officer located the suspect and stolen vehicle. The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to Cranston Police Headquarters.

The suspect is identified as Matthew Figueroa Hernandez, age 20, of 271 Admiral Street, Providence, RI. Mr. Figueroa Hernandez will be charged with the following: First Degree Robbery (Occupied Motor Vehicle), Assault on a Person Over 60 Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.

Disclaimer: All individual(s) contained in this press release are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.