A Busy Morning for Arrests

Mayhem in the workplace as well as the home last Thursday morning brought out East Hampton Town police. An arrest was made on a felony assault charge at a Bluff Road, Amagansett, construction site and two other people were arrested following alleged domestic violence incidents, with one of the charges a felony. The three arrests occurred within an hour of one another. 

 Elmer E. Castaneda, 22, of Flanders was working at 184 Bluff Road on a Farrell Building Company seven-bedroom house, which reportedly is on the market for just under $6.5 million. He and two other men, one of them Robert Tasayco, were installing interior trim on a door for an independent contractor. They had worked together before without incident, according to Mr. Tasayco’s statement on file at East Hampton Town Justice Court, though he did not know the man well. At one point they got into an altercation. 

Mr. Castaneda told police that Mr. Tasayco had started the fight, but the men agreed that Mr. Castaneda had swung a three-foot-long, six-inch-wide door jamb at Mr. Tasayco, which hit the right side his face, below the eye, causing swelling and lacerations. He had blacked out momentarily after being struck, he said. Before police arrived, Mr. Castaneda allegedly drove off but he returned about half an hour later, as police were interviewing Mr. Tasayco. After interviewing both men, Mr. Castaneda was charged with assault with a weapon with intent to cause serious injury.

He was arraigned that afternoon by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana. Jamie Greenwood, an assistant Suffolk County district attorney, asked that bail be set at $5,000. Justice Rana pointed out to Matthew D’Amato, an attorney from the Legal Aid Society, that it appeared there had been a prior attempt by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove Mr. Castaneda from the country. She also said that the alleged victim was in the hospital, being treated for his injuries, leading her to agree to the bail request. Mr. Castaneda’s family, who were in the court, posted the $5,000. Whether ICE was pursuing Mr. Castaneda was not immediately known. 

At about the same time last Thursday, police locked up Zoe B. McCourty, 21, following a dispute with her grandmother over a kitchen blender the previous morning. According to police, Ms. McCourty and her grandmother, Sylvia Blackwood, live together on Sulky Circle in East Hampton.

 The older woman told police that she had told her granddaughter not to use the blender and had taken the glass container away. Ms. McCourty allegedly picked up the blender’s base, followed the older woman to her room, and, when Ms. Blackwood lay down on her bed, Ms. McCourty is said to have hurled the base of the blender at her. 

Ms. Blackwood had covered her face with her right hand, and the base struck it, police said, causing a four-inch-long, two-inch-wide gash. Ms. McCourty then left the house, not returning for 24 hours. Upon her return, police charged her with assault with a weapon with intent to cause serious injury. A family friend posted the $1,000 bail set last Thursday afternoon by Justice Rana.

Also last Thursday morning, police were called to a Rutland Road residence in Springs on another alleged domestic incident, which ultimately led to the arrest of Jeanne M. Genovese, 60. She and Robert Peterman, who live there, had allegedly gotten into a dispute over food. He told police that when he awoke that morning and went into the kitchen to make coffee, he found the coffee maker filled with meat sauce and that Ms. Genovese had thrown out his hot dogs and yogurt. Ms. Genovese is quoted by police as telling a­­n officer that Mr. Peterman had previously thrown away her food, so she retaliated. 

According to police, while an officer was interviewing Mr. Peterman, Ms. Genovese shoved him. She was charged with a misdemeanor, criminal mischief, for allegedly destroying the food, along with a harassment violation. She was released that afternoon without bail after being arraigned. 

A 72-year-old East Hampton man, Robert E. Turner, is facing a charge of contempt of a court order, a felony, after allegedly slapping and shoving his wife, Linda Turner, to the floor a little after midnight Saturday in their Three Mile Harbor Road house. Justice Rana had previously ordered Mr. Turner to refrain from harassing his wife following an incident in November 2016. Mr. Turner was released the next morning without bail.