The landlord of a multi-family home on Plymouth Avenue called 911 on Tuesday afternoon after tenants reported a strong smell of oil in the building, according to police reports. The landlord found signs that a tenant had been siphoning oil from a basement tank into a 40-gallon trash can.
Oil had visibly spilled on the basement’s floor, and some of the pools were close to an actively burning gas furnace, police said. The Norwalk Fire Department was called to clean up the spill safely, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was called to check on the spill, according to police reports.
A witness told police that Trevor White, 53, of Plymouth Avenue had tried to siphon the home heating oil, police said. A local oil company had reportedly delivered oil to the wrong tank, and White was attempting to move the oil to the proper tank himself, according to the police report.
Norwalk Police charged White with reckless endangerment due to the fire risk, and disorderly conduct because of the alarm to neighbors, police said. He was issued a misdemeanor summons and released on the scene.
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