PROVIDENCE - A Warwick man convicted in June 2010 on federal drug and firearm charges and sentenced in September 2010 to 151 months in federal prison has been arrested by members of the United States Marshals Service San Diego Fugitive Task Force on a federal arrest warrant issued in Rhode Island for allegedly violating the terms of his federal supervised release.
It is alleged that on Nov. 26, 2019, Derrick Watters, 42, assaulted his girlfriend and prevented her from using her cell phone to call police for assistance. A subsequent investigation by Warwick Police resulted in the seizure of a firearm and ammunition from the residence allegedly belonging to Watters. Watters fled the residence prior to the arrival of Warwick Police.
Members of the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force and Warwick Police worked through the Thanksgiving holiday into this week and tracked Watters to Oceanside, CA. On Wednesday, members of the San Diego Fugitive Task Force apprehended Watters in Oceanside. He is being held at the Western Region Detention Center Facility in San Diego, CA.
Watters is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in San Diego later today.
Watters is charged by Warwick Police with domestic assault - strangulation, refusal to relinquish a telephone, simple assault, disorderly conduct, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Watters’ arrest is announced by United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, United States Marshal Wing Chau, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police Colonel James M. Manni, and Warwick Police Chief Colonel Rick Rathbun.
The Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force is co-led by the United States Marshal Service and the Rhode Island State Police, and includes members of the Warwick, Pawtucket, Coventry, Cranston, Providence, Portsmouth, Middletown, and East Providence Police Departments.
The matter of Watters allegedly violating the terms of his federal supervised is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
