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On the Police Logs 05.05.22

Thu, 05/05/2022 - 09:59

Amagansett

A glider flying too low over the beach led police to search areas near Napeague Lane, Atlantic Avenue, and Indian Wells on the morning of April 25. Bruce Howard reported the low-flying craft at about 8 a.m., but it was not found.

Tyler Mattson was staring out at the ocean midday on April 27 when he spotted flares. Police contacted the Coast Guard at Star Island Station Montauk, and learned the flares were part of a training exercise.

East Hampton

A key component of a seeder — the part that controls the rate of seed distribution — was stolen from the Historical Farm Museum over the weekend of April 16. Brian Carabine estimated its replacement cost at $200.

A Landfall Road resident received a phone call last week purporting to come from Homeland Security, saying that a package of “fake I.D.s and contraband” addressed to her had been intercepted, and to await instructions. Hearing nothing by the next day, she called the federal agency, which said they had not called, and told her to inform local law enforcement of the incident. Luckily, she told police, she had not given the scammer any personal or bank information.

The new director of the LongHouse Reserve, Carrie Barratt, found a number of small cards scattered across the grounds last week with the words “Bring Back Matko” written on them. She told police it was the reserve’s opening day under new leadership, and that there has been some controversy, but that she didn’t know anyone specific who would do such a thing.

East Hampton Village

A Honda with a temporary Texas registration, parked at Wiborg’s Beach on April 26, aroused the suspicion of beachgoers. Someone called police, who made a computer check and found that the car was registered to a 2009 Saturn and that its vehicle identification number was not on file in Texas. It was taken by Hammer Towing to the police impound.

Smoke was pouring from the windows of the bathrooms in the Reutershan parking lot on April 26 when police arrived. Village firefighters, who were already there, determined the cause: a “smoke bomb.” The building was undamaged.

Montauk

After being out at the Montauket Friday evening, Melissa Schmidt of Port Jefferson returned to the Royal Atlantic around midnight and found loud music coming from a neighbor’s room. She knocked and asked that he turn it down, but he immediately began yelling at her, she told police, and punched her in the arm. Officers arrived and tried to speak with the neighbor, but there was no answer at the door. They told Ms. Schmidt, who said she was not hurt and refused medical attention, to call them if the noise continued and to avoid the neighbor.

The Coast Guard asked for police assistance Saturday afternoon to locate the Peconic Star, an 80-foot-long commercial fishing boat, which was reported to have run

aground about 200 feet off the beach near the Warhol estate. Police found the boat, which was freed in about two hours on a rising tide.

Sag Harbor

A hit-and-run involving a potted plant caused Gregory Brown to call the police to his Hillside Drive West house on April 25. Car tracks on the lawn, found in the morning, showed that the pot had been knocked down overnight. Without surveillance or a license plate, there was little to be done.

Kevin Martin, the groundskeeper at Oakland Cemetery, was outraged to see someone on a red dirt bike riding through the cemetery on the afternoon of April 25, and called police. Officers searched the grounds to no avail.

That evening, Andrea Meyer saw a black Hyundai S.U.V. misjudge a turn from Madison Street onto Union and run over a stop sign, dragging it down the road before driving away. She called police, but the car was long gone.

Jack Spaulding called police from Goldberg’s Bagels on the morning of April 26 because a man was telling employees that the soup was too salty. Police notified the man, who has caused trouble at Goldberg’s before, that he has already been cited for trespass there, and is no longer allowed to enter the store upon pain of arrest.

A passer-by noticed a lighted candle in a closed Washington Street store on the night of April 26 and called police, who left a voice-mail message for the business owner, called a number out front of the store, and found a key in a lockbox that did not open the door. They were unable to get in, and the candle was left to burn down.

Robert Slovack of Brick Kiln Road called last week to complain that two dogs were running amok in his backyard, harassing his cat. Police were able to return the collies, Bella and Bo, to their owners.

An oven exploded at Tutto il Giorno on April 27, and its door burst open, injuring the knee of a cook who was standing nearby. Police told the staff to turn off the gas, and the cook was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for treatment.

Alan Furst called last Thursday to say he’d found a small cardboard box on his lawn that he believed was intentionally dumped there. Police came and removed the box.

A Honda Pilot, its windows covered with towels and blankets, was parked at Havens Beach very early Sunday morning and someone reported it. A woman in the car told police she’d been working on her computer the night before and fell asleep. She was informed of the overnight beach parking prohibition and moved on.

Springs

Loring Bolger called police last week to say that Eastside Court has become an informal dumping area, with beer cans and bottles all strewn about. Ms. Bolger, who heads the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee, said she’d also seen at least four dead deer dumped there recently, and that “they stink to high heaven.” Police found three “actively decaying” deer carcasses and three skeletal remains, just a few feet off the road, and notified the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which promised to follow up.

A smoker started a small brush fire at Victoria Sdrougias’s Gardiner’s Lane property on Saturday morning. By the time the police arrived, Springs firefighters had put out the flames.

East Hampton Ambulance Department Gets County Nod

The Suffolk County Regional Emergency Services Council voted on March 12 to expand the operating territory of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Department to include the Northwest Fire Protection District and the East Hampton Water Supply Area. This came after a contentious public hearing at LTV Studios on Feb. 16.

Mar 21, 2024

On the Police Logs 03.21.24

A 37-year-old Montauk man attempted to make a fire in a barrel at the Montauk Skate Park to "grill some burgers while he and friends skated" on the afternoon of March 13. Someone called the police, who told the man it was against the rules. He apologized and put the fire out.

Mar 21, 2024

Policing East Hampton in 2023: A Look at the Statistics

In 2023, for 911 calls classified as "highest priority," the East Hampton Town Police Department's average response time was 5 minutes, 38 seconds. Officers made 163 drunken-driving arrests, assisted on 2,530 medical calls and nearly 1,800 fire-related emergencies, and logged 12 "use of force" incidents over the 12-month period. Those were just a few of the statistics presented by Chief Michael Sarlo to the East Hampton Town Board last week, capping off a year of protecting 70 square miles from Wainscott to Montauk.

Mar 21, 2024

Sexual Assault Investigation

A 29-year-old East Hampton woman went to police headquarters on March 4 to report being the victim of sexual assault, stemming from an incident on Feb. 23 at a house in town.

Mar 13, 2024

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