WRENTHAM - Driving a Hummer through Providence in the breakdown lane of Interstate 95 during the afternoon rush hour will attract the attention of police.

Driving it without a license can get you arrested.

But Freddy Romano, 42, of 99 Lake St. in Wrentham, made things worse by allegedly offering the trooper a $1,000 bribe, the Rhode Island State Police say.

"The trooper was kind of surprised. It's not something that happens too often," said Maj. Steven O'Donnell, a spokesman for the Rhode Island State police.

"(The trooper) responded that he wasn't for sale," O'Donnell said Thursday. "Then he offered more money." O'Donnell alleged Romano also offered to do construction work at the trooper's home to avoid being arrested for driving with a suspended license.

The alleged exchanges happened Nov. 20 at a state police barracks after Romano was stopped on I-95 in Providence.

He is free on bail and faces charges in Rhode Island of driving with a suspended license, bribing a public official and obstructing an officer.

O'Donnell said that when Romano was initially stopped, he lied about who he was, then told the state police corporal who stopped him that he was upset about the death of his daughter.

"He had a lot of different stories that he made up," O'Donnell said, allegedly in an attempt to play upon the trooper's sympathy to avoid being arrested.

Romano was arraigned that night and released on $1,500 cash bail. There was $2,500 cash in his wallet, O'Donnell said.

Romano could not be reached Thursday for comment. A call to a phone listed in his name reached a message that said calls are not accepted at that number.