Couple Charged With Child Endangerment After Kids Pulled From Dangerous House

Four children have been taken from their parents by county authorities after they were exposed to life-threatening hazards at their Middletown home, authorities allege.

Middltown police were familiar with 1294 Arbutus Avenue when they arrived on March 11 to assist Bucks County Sheriff’s Department with an eviction at the messy home. Officer John Beck was at the home with sheriff’s department Cpl. James Mitchell and Cpl. Daniel Boyle, who both discovered a “strong odor of exhaust fumes in the home lived in by Randy Fluck, 35, and Sondra Marie Folweiler, 30, and their four children, ranging in age from 1 to 12 years old.

Mitchell was overcome by the fumes and developed a headache in addition to feeling nauseous, according to court papers.

Boyle entered into the garage of the roughly 1,000-square-foot house and turned off a gas-powered generators that was running inside the unvented garage.

Fire Marshal Jim McGuire responded to the home and measured carbon monoxide levels in the garage of 800 parts per million and 600 parts per million in the residence. He said the safe level of carbon monoxide inside a home is zero, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Aileen Torrente. The detective also wrote that McGuires readings came about 30 minutes after the windows of the home had been opened to air out.

While two of Fluck and Folweiler’s children were in school, a 1 year old and 5 year old were taking to St. Mary Medical Center after being inside the house with the elevated carbon monoxide levels.

Inside the filthy home that sits on a block of well maintained residences, authorities allegedly found “unsanitary and deplorable” living conditions inside the house. Court papers noted extension cords running throughout the house, animals urine and feces, dirt, trash on beds, dust along the walls and clothes piled up. Toys, trash and clothing were strewn about the floors of the home, which police said created a fire and escape hazard.

The generator was found not to have an exhaust system to let the poisonous carbon monoxide to escape, police said.

During a welfare check a few days prior, a police officer found the running generator in the garage. He advised Fluck and Folweiler to turn it off due to carbon monoxide build up, which the two agreed to do, police said.

According to county records, the couple bought the house for $240,000 in 2006 and it was turned over to a mortgage company in 2014.

As of this past weekend, the inside of the home appeared cleared out. The front lawn remained strewn with trash and childrens’ toys. A fence failed to block some debris sticking up in the backyard.

Fluck and Folweiler were charged on March 12 with two counts of endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and reckless endangerment. They were arraigned by on-call District Judge John Kelly Jr. and remain in county jail unable to post bail.

A police official told LevittownNow.com the couple remain under investigation and more charges could be filed.

Fluck and Folweiler are set to have a preliminary hearing on March 30.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.