Couple charged with throwing rocks at passing cars in Southwick

A husband and wife from Rhode Island are facing a slew of felony charges after police say they drove around throwing rocks at passing vehicles in Massachusetts.

Woonsocket couple Celestine Robinson, 52, and David Ducharme, 42, are each charged with eight counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle and nine counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, court records show. Robinson is also charged with drunk driving and other related offenses. 

Police in Southwick, Massachusetts, said they received several reports last month of a white pickup truck causing damage to other vehicles along College Highway, near the Connecticut state line. 

“It was discovered that the occupants in this vehicle were throwing rocks at passing motorists,” a police report filed in court states. The incidents — which spanned Feb. 19 through Feb. 21 — were first reported by The Westfield News. 

One driver told officers she was heading home on Feb. 21 when she heard a loud bang and saw the white pickup truck to her left. According to a police report, she followed the truck to check its license plate but grew scared and drove away after the two people inside got out with baseball bats. 

Soon after, a Southwick police sergeant pulled over a pickup truck matching witness reports and found Robinson behind the wheel, police said.

Asked if she had been throwing rocks out of the truck, Robinson allegedly made comments about people following her and other vehicles attempting to cut into her lane. Southwick police said Robinson blew a preliminary breath test indicating a blood alcohol content of 0.127 — higher than the state limit of 0.08 for drivers. 

Inside the truck, police allegedly found a baseball bat and several bags full of rocks. Ducharme, the truck’s passenger, denied throwing rocks out the window and said he didn’t get out of the pickup at any point with a bat in his hand, according to police reports. 

While court documents do not indicate how the couple is related, a Facebook profile that appears to belong to Robinson identifies her as Ducharme’s wife. 

Robinson pleaded not guilty last week to a marked lanes violation and charges of driving under the influence of liquor, operating a motor vehicle negligently, driving without a license, and having an open container of alcohol inside a vehicle. She is scheduled for arraignment on the remaining charges April 15. 

Judge Tina Cafaro set Robinson’s bail at $1,500, citing in part her out-of-state criminal record. Rhode Island court records indicate Robinson pleaded no contest in 2024 to a charge of obstructing an officer and previously faced charges of driving without a license, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and leaving the scene of property damage, among others. 

Ducharme pleaded not guilty to all 17 of his counts and was ordered held without bail following a dangerousness hearing Tuesday. In asking for Ducharme to be kept in jail ahead of his trial, prosecutors said the National Crime Information Center showed out-of-state charges and unspecified “terroristic threats.”

Rhode Island court records indicate Ducharme has had several run-ins with the law, including a 2018 domestic violence charge that was later dismissed. The same year, he was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing an officer. He pleaded no contest to the first charge, and the second was ultimately dismissed.

Attorneys for Robinson and Ducharme did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.