LAW AND ORDER
Q & A : Brian Andrews
The former Rhode Island State Police detective weighs in on his “ Cat and Mouse ” rivalry , and later friendship , between him and master thief Tony Fiore .
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BRIAN ANDREWS .
FORMER RHODE ISLAND STATE POLICE DETECTIVE Brian Andrews and master thief Tony Fiore ’ s history involves stakeouts , wiretapping , armored truck heists , arrests and more , but the connection later led to camaraderie after Fiore served time in prison . Their story was highlighted in the 2017 Crimetown episode “ Chapter 8 : Cat and Mouse ,” and “ Bonus Episode : Cat and Mouse Part II .” We checked in with Andrews for some untold tales about the foes turned friends .
Former Rhode Island State Police Detective Brian Andrews ( right ) with Lieutenant Richard Esposito ( left ), who was in charge of the State Police ’ s Crime Scene Unit .
Brian , can you catch us up on “ Cat and Mouse ?” “ Cat and Mouse ” deals with Fiore and me from 1975-78 around the time of the Bonded Vault heist . The second episode of “ Cat and Mouse ” is called “ Bonus ,” which covers 1991 and the armored truck robbery at Emerald Square Mall .
First off , how did you catch on to what was going on with Tony Fiore ? Right around 1973-74 , I was transferred from the uniformed State Police Detective Division . The State Police Intelligence Unit had been working on some organized crime figures , which involved Tony Fiore , Ralph DeMasi , Gerard Ouimette and others , who were actively involved in burglaries at precious metals facilities with millions of dollars in gold and precious metals . They were also hijacking trailer trucks all over New England , most of them locally . It was concentrated in the Pawtucket / East Providence area , because that ’ s where all of the major trucking terminals were . So the State Police decided they were going to do a wiretap . Before 1973 , there was no wiretapping . It was illegal . In 1968 , the federal government passed the Omnibus Crime Control Bill , and once that was passed , it authorized wiretapping to the federal government and all of the states . So for the State Police in 1973 , they decided that they would wiretap three telephones . One of them was Fiore ’ s , one was Ralph DeMasi ’ s and the third one was Arthur Romeo .
In order to man those wiretaps , they needed more manpower than the Intelligence Unit had . They were
72 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MARCH 2025