Heating oil leaks into basement

A carbon monoxide detector alerted occupants of a West Kingston house to oil fumes in the basement from a leaking outdoor oil tank, South Kingstown’s building official said yesterday.

Building Official Russell Brown declared the single-story house at 165 Sand Turn Rd. at least temporarily uninhabitable. He said the oil drained from the outside tank into the soil and some passed through the foundation wall into the partially flooded basement, he said.

An emergency cleanup company called by the state Department of Environmental Management removed the basement fuel with oil-absorbent, water-resistant pads. Workers filled two 55-gallon drums with oil-soaked pads, said Jim Ball, the DEM’s acting administrator for emergency response.

A determination has not been made about how much soil must be removed.

Town records show the 24- by 44-foot ranch house, valued at $232,800, is owned by Raymond L. Perry.

— Donita Naylor

5 Barrington teens found drunk

BARRINGTON — Despite an aggressive campaign against underage drinking, the police corralled five high school students for drunkenness Friday night.

Four of the five became sick at a dance at Barrington High School. The four, two boys and two girls ages 15 to 17, were released to their parents and will probably be suspended, said Police Chief John LaCross. Principal John Gray summoned officers to the school shortly after 9:30 p.m. after the first two ill students, both girls, were discovered.

The fifth student, a 17-year-old girl, literally staggered into the Dunkin Donuts on County Road shortly before 8:30 p.m., while a police officer was in the shop, the police said. At one point, she fell to the floor, according to the police.

Barrington has been the focus of alcohol-related student deaths in recent years, but the problem isn’t restricted to this East Bay community.

Tomorrow morning, police and local substance abuse experts from 14 cities and towns are scheduled to meet in Johnston to assess strategies to cut down on underage drinking and drug abuse. The communities are Bristol, Cranston, East Providence, Johnston, Middletown, Newport, North Kingstown, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, Smithfield, Warwick, West Warwick, Westerly and Woonsocket.

Details are at projo.com/barrington.

— C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Man shot at girlfriend, police say

CRANSTON — A man accused of firing a gun at his girlfriend while she stood at a window in her home early Sunday turned himself in to the state police yesterday afternoon.

Dana McCutcheon, 25, of Lexington Avenue, faces charges including domestic assault with intent to commit murder, carrying a dangerous weapon when committing a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license and firing in a compact area.

The Cranston police say McCutcheon and his girlfriend got into an argument Saturday night. McCutcheon left her house, at 2 Woburn St., but returned at about 1:25 a.m. Sunday with a handgun.

He fired three shots at her while she stood in an upstairs bedroom window, said Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar.

The woman was unhurt. McCutcheon fled but went to the state police at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon and was turned over to the Cranston police.

He was being held for an appearance this morning in District Court.

— Staff report

Legislator’s spouse arrested

The husband of state Rep. Deborah Fellela, D-Johnston, faces New Hampshire charges of receiving stolen property and credit card fraud, according to court records.

Henry A. Fellela, 50, of 3 Diaz St., Johnston, turned himself in to the Amherst, N.H., police last Tuesday. The alleged offenses occurred Aug. 25, according to records on file in District Court, Milford, N.H.

The Amherst police did not provide additional information yesterday.

Asked about the charges yesterday, Fellela said, “I don’t know. … This is all baloney.”

He was released Tuesday on $5,000 personal recognizance pending a court appearance Thursday morning, according to court records.

Fellela’s arrest came less than three weeks after he and son Matthew T. Fellela, 22, of Cranston, had run-ins with the Johnston police stemming from alleged traffic violations in which the son was charged with drunken driving and the father was charged with driving on a suspended license.

In the wake of those charges, Representative Fellela accused the Johnston police of harassing her family.

She did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

— Mark Reynolds