Massachusetts man charged with firing gun near Providence strip club
An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Massachusetts man has been charged in Providence County Superior Court for his role in a shooting incident nearby a Providence strip club in February 2023.
On May 31, 2023, the Office of the Attorney General charged Robert Ross (age 31) of Attleboro, Mass., by way of criminal information, with one count of carrying a pistol without a license and one count of discharging a firearm within a compact area.
As alleged in the criminal information, on February 20, 2023, Providence Police responded to a report of shots fired outside the Foxy Lady Gentleman’s Club on Chalkstone Avenue. Upon arrival, police learned of a patron, the defendant, who was escorted out of the club for disorderly conduct just before the gunfire began. As officers canvassed the area, they discovered nine 9 mm spent shell casings. Further, police questioned two male subjects who were allegedly with the defendant prior to him leaving the club. The witnesses did not cooperate with investigators but did refer to the defendant multiple times as “Bobby.”
As further alleged, investigators obtained and reviewed surveillance footage from both Foxy Lady and a nearby business, that depicted the defendant arriving at the club in a small blue sedan, security escorting him out of the club at 7:15 p.m., the defendant getting into the same vehicle at 7:16 p.m., and bright flashes emanating from the vehicle at 7:17 p.m. in the location of the recovered casings.
As alleged in the criminal information, investigators obtained the defendant’s name through a credit card receipt from the club, matched his name to his license, and finally matched his license photo to the man depicted in the surveillance footage. Subsequently, investigators sought a warrant for the defendant’s arrest, and he turned himself in on March 1.
The defendant is scheduled for a pre-arraignment conference on August 9, 2023, in Providence County Superior Court.
