Providence police detectives are investigating a woman’s report that a driver displayed what appeared to be an AK-47-style rifle after an SUV sideswiped her car on North Main Street near Pratt Street, GoLocalProv reported. The woman said the incident happened shortly after 1:30 p.m. Saturday. She briefly followed the SUV in an effort to note its license plate, then stopped and called police.
North Main Street has documented safety concerns
The alleged confrontation is separate from broader traffic-safety concerns documented for the corridor. A City of Providence planning document describes North Main Street as a high-ranking crash corridor in the city’s Vulnerable Road User Safety Action Plan for 2009–15. The document also reports an average of 10 collisions per year resulting in injuries to people walking or bicycling. Those corridor-wide figures do not establish anything about the reported sideswipe or alleged threat.
A separate Providence road-rage case involved gunfire
There is also a distinct local precedent: WPRI reported that a man was charged after an Aug. 16 road-rage incident on I-95 North in Providence in which he was accused of firing at another driver’s car. That case involved alleged gunfire on a highway, not the reported weapon threat on North Main Street; it does not establish a connection between the incidents or a broader increase in such events.
Key details remain unconfirmed
GoLocalProv’s account does not establish whether anyone was injured, whether the sideswipe caused property damage, or which driver was at fault in the initial collision. The reported firearm description and confrontation remain allegations as detectives investigate.
