Barrington teens charged after they are found drunk

Posted 8/18/15

Barrington police made eight underage drinking-related arrests over a seven day span last week, and among those charged were two 16-year-olds who were found to be heavily intoxicated.

Police charged one of the girls on Wednesday, Aug. 12, …

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Barrington teens charged after they are found drunk

Posted

Barrington police made eight underage drinking-related arrests over a seven day span last week, and among those charged were two 16-year-olds who were found to be heavily intoxicated.

Police charged one of the girls on Wednesday, Aug. 12, after getting a call from a Hampden Meadows area resident. The girl had been dropped off at her home by her friends — she was reportedly drunk and throwing up. Police said she had been out with friends, drinking in Bristol.

Just one night later, a second 16-year-old girl was charged. At about 7:30 p.m., an officer on routine patrol was flagged down by a group of teenagers who said their friend was heavily intoxicated. The officer called for the rescue; officials said the girl had been drinking rye whiskey and was unresponsive and throwing up. Police said the girl had been drinking at home while her parents were out.

These incidents, coupled with other recent underage drinking-related arrests, have caught the attention of BAY Team Prevention Director Kathy Sullivan.

"I'm hoping this is just a blip," said Ms. Sullivan, about the recent incidents. Her agency works to educate young people on the dangers of substance abuse, and it also offers an alcohol awareness class to minors who have been charged with possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage.

"There was a period of time where we didn't have any referrals" for the class, she said. "For us, it's an opportunity to educate these kids. Fortunately none of these (incidents) has had fatal consequences."

Ms. Sullivan said the cause for the recent uptick in underage drinking-related arrests was hard to determine, and she would not identify a single group of local teenagers for blame.

"I wouldn't want to brand a certain class at the high school," she said.

Instead, she believes some teenagers and their parents may have grown complacent. Today's teenagers were around 7- or 8-years-old (and their families may not have lived in town) when Barrington witnessed a slew of underage drinking-related tragedies.

"Maybe it's the adults that should be listening to Dan Converse," said Ms. Sullivan, referring to a resident whose son died in a car crash back in 2007. Mr. Converse has shared his painful experiences with local teenagers as part of the BAY Team's alcohol awareness class.

Ms. Sullivan said she has spoken with Barrington Police Chief John LaCross about the possibilities of opening up the class to community members who want to share the message with their children.

In addition to the two 16-year-olds facing charges this week, Barrington police also arrested a 19-year-old woman with possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage by an underage person; an 18-year-old male resident with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol-first offense after he crashed his car into a tree near the intersection of Washington Road and Nayatt Road; and one 18-year-old male resident twice in three days, charging him with possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage by an underage person.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.