Building Contractor Arrested

A building contractor was arrested on theft charges for allegedly stealing tools from Riverhead Building Supply on consecutive days last week. 

A manager called East Hampton Village police after security cameras reportedly captured David H. Bye of East Hampton, 48, taking tools and walking out of the Railroad Avenue store without paying for them. On Dec. 7, according to police, he took a red Spackle bucket and filled it with tools before leaving through the back of the store. The next day, he grabbed two more Spackle buckets and filled them with tools, nails, screws, and other items, again leaving without paying, police said. 

During an interview he told police he had simply forgotten to pay for the items, Det. Brian Eldridge said. Police escorted him to his house to retrieve the contents of the buckets, which included two sets of Stabila levels, a Stanley hammer, and two prybars.

The items totaled less than $1,000, and Mr. Bye was charged with petty larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, both misdemeanors. He was released on $300 bail, and will be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court next Thursday. 

Two 18-year-olds were arrested on drug charges on Friday night after East Hampton Town police found Ecstasy and marijuana in their truck.

Police spotted a truck pulled over by the side of the road on Old Stone Highway, near Neck Path in Amagansett, shortly before 10:30 p.m. An officer stopped to see if the occupants needed help, and smelled a strong odor of marijuana, which led to a search of the truck. Police found a clear plastic bag containing “brownish-colored crystalline rocks,” which they said later tested positive for methamphetamine, or M.D.M.A., also known as Ecstasy. A small zip-top bag of a “green leafy material,” which tested positive for marijuana, was also found. 

Both young men were charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

In the week’s third arrest, a local man was charged Sunday with misdemeanor drunken driving after town police found him asleep behind the wheel on North Main Street, just outside the village limits.

Gonzalo P. Flores of East Hampton, 47, was arrested at about 1:50 a.m. Police said they saw him “passed out” in the driver’s seat of a 2015 Chevrolet, with the keys in the ignition and the engine running, and that he appeared intoxicated when awakened and performed poorly on field sobriety tests. At his arraignment later that morning, East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana set bail at $2,500, and he was released.