It was an average day at a Cranston gas station until something went terribly wrong. It took Scott Bonelli a few seconds to figure out what was happening.

Next thing I know she started to scream wildly, she was shrieking, at first I thought it was laughter, but then she yelled that he was taking her car. - Scott Bonelli, Witness

Police say it happened a little after 2:00 Thursday afternoon. An 18 year old left her keys in the ignition and started pumping gas, suddenly a man punched her in the face and took off in her car.

Don't leave the keys in the vehicle even if the vehicle is off. Always remove the keys from the ignition. - Captain Steven Robertson, Cranston Police Dept.

It's not unusual for people to leave their keys in the ignition while they pump gas. ABC6 News spoke to several people at a gas station in Providence who say they often do the same.

Bethan Briggs is one of those people. She can't remember what her policy is on leaving her keys in the ignition, except that she doesn't really have one.

I don't know, I've never really thought about it before. - Bethany Briggs, Providence

One possible reason so many people do it - to save time.

You're in and you're out. You go in there and you have to stop for something on the way home and that's it, you're out. - Stephen Ricci, Providence

After hearing about the Cranston carjacking, Bethan Briggs plans to do things differently next time.

Make sure I take my keys with me, lock my car. - Briggs

Police are looking for a man with the following description:

Black male
6' tall

The stolen car was a 1993 gold Toyota Camry with RI license plates

projo.com 

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2004

BY BARBARA POLICHETTI
Journal Staff Writer

CRANSTON -- About a year ago, Scott Bonelli was getting ready to pump some gas at the Cumberland Farms on Cranston Street when he heard a woman shriek.

Bonelli, 35, of Cranston, saw a large man punch a young woman in the face before jumping into her car to steal it. Bonelli dove through the open driver's-side window in a brave, although fruitless, attempt to stop the carjacking.

The refusal to look the other way when something wrong is happening is an instinct that Bonelli apparently shares with resident Jeffrey Johansen, 24, who last summer helped police corner teenagers who were wreaking havoc in his Stadium neighborhood.

Both men were presented Cranston Police Citizens Awards at a City Council meeting last week.

"Both these young men got involved to help other citizens and in doing so helped our city," Mayor Stephen P. Laffey said later in an interview.

The two were selected by the Police Department's awards committee, headed by Capt. Robert Ryan. The awards are given periodically.

"Quite frankly, we can't do our job alone," Ryan said. "We rely on citizens to be our eyes and our ears, and when people are willing and courageous enough to step forward as these two gentlemen did, it helps us tremendously."

Bonelli became a hero on a pleasant afternoon last July at the gas station near his home, in the Laurel Hill neighborhood.

He said that pure instinct took over when he saw a man hit an 18-year-old woman later identified by police as Saru Chay. Bonelli, without thinking about the size of the assailant, ran to Chay's car and flung himself through the open window on the driver's side -- putting himself almost face-to-face with the car thief.

"Since I'm only about 5 feet 5 inches, I pretty much had my whole body through the window," Bonelli said Friday. "I was trying to pull the keys out of the ignition and he was hitting me."

According to police reports, Bonelli persisted in his efforts despite punches from the thief, a 6-footer weighing 200 pounds.

Bonelli succeeding in wrenching some of the keys free, but the ignition key apparently came off the ring, enabling the thief to drive away.

Ryan said that about a day later, the alleged thief, William Wheeler, 27, of Fall River, was arrested in that city, where he was accused of several robberies at knifepoint.

"There is little doubt that William Wheeler is a dangerous individual," Ryan wrote in the summary that accompanied the recommendation that Bonelli receive the citizens award. "Mr. Bonelli is a true hero, especially since he was willing to render aid in a very dangerous situation.

"At the time of the incident, there were other people around, but only Mr. Bonelli was willing to render aid to an innocent victim."

Bonelli -- you might remember him for the pink flamingo display he put on the front lawn of City Hall last Christmas -- said that he's not sure he'd do it again if he had time to think about the danger.

"It was total instinct," he said. "I felt bad, this tiny girl was getting hit. If the guy really wanted a car, mine was running and was unlocked. Take mine -- I've got insurance -- but don't hit a girl."

For Jeffrey Johansen, it was the same sense of right and wrong that made him keep an eye on three teenagers who were in a neighbor's swimming pool after midnight last summer. He knew the neighbor was in the hospital, and he was just starting to wonder if the youths had permission when he saw them scramble over the side of the pool -- sans swim trunks -- and start running through the neighborhood.

Johansen, who had just returned home from his job managing a Walgreens in Massachusetts and was watching the teens from his back deck in the city's Stadium neighborhood, said he called the police but no cruisers were available.

Acting on a hunch that the youths were up to no good, Johansen decided to stay outside and keep an eye on things. The teenagers returned, apparently on a vandalism spree -- ripping up yard-waste bags, throwing debris around, scratching a resident's car with a key and then breaking into the auto and rummaging through it.

Johansen said he kept calling the police to report the teenagers' actions and that when patrol cars arrived, en masse, he was able to help officers chase and identify the teenagers.

"I think one of the things that impressed us most about Mr. Johansen is that none of the property damaged or stolen was his," Ryan said. "And it is the result of his unselfishness and caring for his neighbors and his community that several crimes were solved."

same article also here : http://www.forbetterlife.org/news/news_story.asp?newsID=862 under the different headline " Bravery, Alertness Spur Police Awards to 2 Citizens"