By: NBC 10 News | Turn to 10.com
Published: October 24, 2011
Updated: October 24, 2011 – 6:54 PM
CHARLESTOWN, R.I. –
Four teens injured in a car crash early Sunday morning in Charlestown were partying with alcohol at the home of a Chariho School Committee member prior to the crash, a source close to the investigation told NBC 10.
All of the teenagers attend Chariho Regional High School.
Grover Champlin and Bryan Thweatt, both 15, suffered minor injuries.
However, 17-year-old Lyle Topa remains in critical condition while sources told NBC 10 that 16-year-old John Lamotte is in a coma.
The students were injured after the car they were riding in crashed into a tree on Carolina Back Road in Charlestown. Only one teen was wearing a seat belt.
The four students were not at Chariho’s homecoming dance that took place earlier that night.
A source close to the investigation told NBC 10 that speed and alcohol were involved and that the teens were attending a party at a home on Kenyon Hill Trail in Richmond belonging to Chariho School Committee member Terri Serra.
Serra is said to be cooperating with police. She told them that she fell asleep in the house, and awoke to find about a dozen teens partying in a trailer out back, which she then broke up.
Police chiefs in Richmond and Charlestown refused to identify the owner of the home saying it was part of their investigation.
Phone calls and e-mails placed to Serra have gone unanswered.
Counselors were at the high school on Monday.
“The building was incredibly quiet and solemn. It was very sad. There was a kind of pervasive sadness within the building. Some kids are angry. The kids were wearing white as a sign of hope,” said Barry Ricci, superintendent of the Chairho Regional School District.
A Facebook page, “Pray For Lyle, Bryan, John, Grover” has been set up, and family and friends are leaving messages.
“We’ll get through this, but there is a lot of hurt today,” Ricci said.
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