Man standing before Judge over a school-zone speeding violation says ‘Do you know who I am’

What began as a routine school-zone speeding case in Judge Frank Caprio’s courtroom quickly turned into something far more personal when the driver, after learning his ticket would be dismissed, asked the judge whether he recognized him.

The man, Tom Derazio, appeared before Caprio over a speeding violation on Blackstone Boulevard near the Lincoln School, but he explained that the citation had been issued while school was closed.

Once Caprio heard that detail, the traffic matter itself was over almost immediately.

“The matter is going to be dismissed,” Caprio told him.

Derazio could have simply thanked the judge and walked away, but instead he remained at the podium and asked a question that changed the entire tone of the hearing.

“Do you recognize me?”

Caprio did not.

That answer opened the door to a story dating back more than a decade and involving the judge’s family, a carriage house in Narragansett and a refrigerator that apparently stayed well stocked whenever company was expected.

The Traffic Case Lasted Only a Few Seconds

Caught in Providence footage shows Caprio first confirming that Derazio was the correct person and that he drove the Chevrolet connected to the violation.

The judge then identified the citation as a speeding violation in a school zone on Blackstone Boulevard and asked whether it had occurred near the Lincoln School.

Derazio said it had, but added one important detail: school was closed when the ticket was issued.

Caprio did not drag the issue out.

He dismissed the case and wished Derazio good luck.

That could have been the end of the appearance, and under normal circumstances it probably would have been.

Instead, Derazio seemed much more interested in finding out whether the judge remembered him from years earlier than in celebrating the dismissal.

Derazio Says He Once Lived on Caprio’s Property

After Caprio said he did not recognize him, Derazio explained that in 2013 he had responded to an advertisement for a carriage house in Narragansett.

He spoke with a realtor and later met Caprio’s wife about renting the property.

Derazio then told the judge that he had ultimately rented the place and lived in the carriage house for about seven months.

“I actually lived with you for like seven months,” he said.

Caprio appeared genuinely surprised and asked the most obvious follow-up question.

“Who’d you pay the rent to?”

The courtroom broke into laughter when Derazio answered that the rent had definitely gone to the judge’s wife.

“I don’t remember you,” Caprio replied. “I don’t remember the rent.”

Derazio explained that Caprio was rarely around the Narragansett property because he spent much of his time at his other home.

The exchange worked because it did not feel staged or dramatic; it was simply an old tenant reminding a former landlord of a connection that one person remembered clearly and the other had apparently forgotten completely.

Caprio Says He Will Ask His Wife About It

Derazio told the judge that Caprio’s wife would almost certainly remember him because they had known each other before the rental arrangement.

At the time, Derazio said he worked at a Bernie’s store in Warwick, where Caprio’s wife would come in to buy televisions.

He joked that he used to give her good discounts, apparently suggesting that their earlier relationship may have helped when the rental opportunity came along.

Caprio responded that he intended to investigate the matter when he got home.

“When I get home today, I’m going to address this issue,” he said.

That line drew another laugh because the conversation had now moved completely away from traffic law and into the judge discovering pieces of his own household history from a defendant standing in front of him.

For a courtroom appearance that began over a speeding camera, it had become unusually relaxed.

The Refrigerator Story Brings Back More Memories

Caprio then tried to place Derazio by asking whether he had owned his St. Bernard dog during the period when Derazio lived there.

Derazio did not think so.

But he did remember another detail about the property.

He said he kept a refrigerator in the garage stocked with beer and that Caprio’s wife would sometimes call ahead of a party.

“She used to call me and say, ‘Make sure it’s full because we’re having a big party this weekend,’” Derazio recalled.

The remark drew more laughter from the courtroom.

It was the kind of small domestic detail that made Derazio’s story sound less like a vague attempt to claim a connection and more like the recollection of someone who had genuinely spent months living on the family’s property.

Caprio, meanwhile, still seemed amused that he had no memory of any of it.

A Traffic Hearing Turns Into an Old Reunion

The exchange eventually came back around to the original case, with Caprio again confirming that the ticket would be dismissed before wishing Derazio well.

There was no argument over the citation and no lengthy legal dispute.

Instead, the memorable part of the hearing came after the legal issue had already been resolved.

Derazio walked into court because of a school-zone speeding violation and ended up reminding the judge that he had once been a tenant connected to the Caprio family.

Caprio’s courtroom became widely known through Caught in Providence for moments exactly like this, where routine municipal cases often gave way to personal stories, humor and unexpected connections.

This one was especially unusual because the surprise belonged to the judge himself.

Derazio remembered the carriage house, the television discounts, the parties and the refrigerator in the garage.

Caprio remembered none of it.

By the end, the ticket was gone, the courtroom was laughing, and the judge had apparently acquired one more topic to discuss with his wife once he got home.