Cops: Man filed false report, fled state

A man who filed a false report to police in August was arrested yesterday after a lengthy investigation.

Police say that on Aug. 7, they received a call from William Fenick, 53, of Center Barnstead, N.H., that two men had doused a U-Haul van with gasoline outside a McDonald's on Loudon Street.

The complaint resulted in the business being closed and the immediate area evacuated.

An investigation revealed that the van had been rented by Fenick and that he fled the state after making the suspicious call.

Fenick was apprehended by police after returning to the state recently. He refused bail and was held at Merrimack County Jail pending arraignment today.