Stonington — Two days before a Memorial Day incident in which an off-duty Westerly police officer fired a shot at their stolen SUV, two of three suspects in that case knocked a Hopkinton, R.I., store owner to the ground with the SUV when they tried to flee after stealing a chainsaw, according to police.

Hopkinton Police Chief David Palmer said Thursday that the driver, Jonathan R. Ilarraza, 26, of North Kingstown, R.I., and his passenger Jan Poirier, 24, of no known address, entered a Rhode Island Harvesting store about 9:30 a.m. and appeared to be looking for items to steal. Palmer said the pair left the store with a $1,900 chainsaw. Ilarraza jumped in the front seat of the stolen Nissan SUV and Poirier in the back.

Palmer said the store owner then tried to stop them by opening the driver’s side door. When Ilarraza backed up, the open door struck the man and knocked him to the ground. The man suffered injuries to his hand, wrist, leg and knee. The pair then fled.

Since Ilarraza's apprehension in Stonington on Monday, Hopkinton police are seeking to extradite Ilarraza to face charges of assault with a deadly weapon and felony larceny, and Poirier to face a charge of conspiracy. Palmer said other Rhode Island police agencies have warrants for Ilarraza, who appears to have gone on a crime spree over several days. Ilarraza has a long criminal record in Rhode Island.

On Monday at 2:34 p.m., Stonington officers responded to a call that a Nissan SUV stolen out of Rhode Island was parked and occupied on Downer Street in Pawcatuck.

That’s when Westerly police Lt. Steven Johnson, who owns a home on the street and had been made aware of the stolen SUV in the neighborhood, approached the driver. Police say Ilarraza then tried to drive away. Johnson then fired a gun and struck the vehicle.

Ilarraza then drove east on Downer Street and lost control of the SUV when he turned south on Garden Street and hit a concrete wall, police said. Ilarraza ran away from the crash. This prompted police to issue an Everbridge alert for nearby residents to shelter in place because the suspects could be armed.

After searching the area, police took both Ilarraza and another man, Robert W. Abercrombie, 48, of Providence, into custody, as well as Poirier, who had remained at the crash scene. No one was injured in the incidents.

Ilarraza was charged with first-degree larceny, evading responsibility, failure to drive right and driving in violation of license classification. Abercrombie was charged with breach of peace and interfering with a police officer and Poirier with threatening.

Ilarraza is being held on a $50,000 bond at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center after being arraigned in New London Superior Court on Tuesday. Abercrombie is being held on a $20,000 bond at Corrigan-Radgowski and Poirier a $10,000 bond at the York Correctional Institution. All three are scheduled to appear in court June 11.

Stonington police, with assistance from the New London State’s Attorney’s Office, which normally is involved when an officer discharges his or her weapon, continue to investigate the incident and have not released any other details beyond those it released Monday night. Stonington Capt. Todd Olson has said his department may be able to provide more details later this week.