Estranged Wives at Issue

Derrick Lamont Short, 38, who had been freed on parole on Feb. 20 after serving a year and a half of a three-year prison term for attempted criminal possession of a weapon, is in county jail in Riverside after his parole board stepped in and ordered him held without bail. 

  Mr. Short was driving a 2004 Jeep on Long Ridge Lane near Stephen Hand’s Path in Northwest on Friday night when he was pulled over for an alleged traffic infraction. Sibely Matos, his estranged wife, was in a passenger seat. 

According to East Hampton Town police, almost exactly four years before Friday’s traffic stop, a New York State justice in Brooklyn, Stephen M. Antignani, had issued an order of protection against Mr. Short on behalf of Ms. Matos, which required him to stay away from her. Court records indicate that the order is still in effect. 

After running their identities through the Federal Bureau of Investigation database, the arresting officer charged Mr. Short with criminal contempt of court as a misdemeanor, for violating the court order. 

According to New York State records, Mr. Short has had three stints in upstate prisons, including Altona, Wallkill, and Moriah, after being convicted of felonies. He also has had numerous arrests and convictions on misdemeanor charges in Suffolk County, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. 

During his arraignment Saturday by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana, Mr. Short told the court that Ms. Matos was his wife and the mother of their three children. 

“He’s only been out since February 20,” Justice Rana told Carl Irace, who was representing Mr. Short. “This is not a good situation for you,” she told Mr. Short. “There is a valid order of protection in place.” 

“I was unaware of it,” Mr. Short responded. Justice Rana replied that Mr. Short had been served and signed the order of protection after pleading guilty to assaulting Ms. Matos in 2014. “There is a long history of bench warrants for this defendant,” Justice Rana said, as she set bail at $5,000. It was an amount he could not meet. He since has been found to be in violation of parole, and has been remanded without the possibility of bail.

In an unrelated case, a Springs man is facing misdemeanor charges of petty larceny and criminal mischief after being arrested Sunday night. Edgar A. Mendez, 53, was with his wife, from whom he is separated, after celebrating their granddaughter’s birthday. According to police, Mr. Mendez allegedly made comments threatening his own well-being, then prevented his estranged wife from calling the police by removing her iPhone 8 and driving off. 

Town police soon located Mr. Mendez, who allegedly had the phone. He was released Monday morning without bail after being arraigned.