Late Saturday afternoon, not long after the manager of the Balenciaga retail store on Newtown Lane called East Hampton Village police to report a shoplifting, a man fitting the manager’s description of the thief was spotted strolling down the street allegedly wearing the missing merchandise.
Carlton K. McPherson of New York City was said to have taken a hat and a handbag from the store. His arrest was “pretty quick and effective, because the manager got the description of the shoplifter out right away,” said Police Chief Michael Tracey. Mr. McPherson, 33, was charged just before 7 p.m., within hours of the incident, with fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies. He is to be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Sept. 13.
In Montauk the week before, at around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 19, East Hampton Town police charged Dominique C. Denis of Briarwood, Queens, with drunken driving, saying he had failed to stay in his lane on West Lake Drive. His car struck a stop sign, a street sign, and a telephone pole before coming to a stop.
The charge rose to the level of a felony because of a drunken-driving conviction within the last 10 years, dated Aug. 27, 2013, out of Nassau County First District Court. Police said the driver’s speech was slurred, he smelled of alcohol, and he performed poorly on field sobriety tests.
Town Justice Lisa R. Rana released Mr. Denis, 32, on his own recognizance later that morning. He is due back in court on Sept. 27.