The East Hampton Town Police Department received nine calls about pesticide peddlers in Montauk, Springs, Northwest Harbor, and Wainscott between Aug. 21 and Aug. 23.
In Montauk, a Glendale Drive resident told police on Aug. 21 that someone had come to her door to sell pesticides. Informing her that there had been several other reports to that effect, the officer told her to report it immediately, should it happen again.
The same afternoon, in Northwest Woods, an Oyster Pond Lane resident reported a pesticide peddler, too. Police found the peddler, who provided an employee identification card when asked to show a peddling license. Police ticketed the man for peddling without a license.
That evening, police failed to locate another pesticide peddler who reportedly made a Rolling Wood Lane woman “uncomfortable” with his persistence, but, on Hand's Creek Road, police caught up with one who told them he worked for EcoShield. Police told the man that residents had been complaining and that he needed to leave. He was done for the day anyway, the man said.
Pesticide peddlers were reported over the next two days, last Thursday and Friday, on Hartley Boulevard and Sycamore Drive in Springs and Osborn Farm Lane in Wainscott, but police were unable to locate them.
On Friday, a resident reported an “EcoShield peddler on a Segway” along Accabonac Road. Police ticketed him, too, for not having a peddling license.
Another report led police to Neck Path later that evening, where they located a man who said he was an EcoShield “spray tech,” not a peddler. Observing the maintenance equipment in his truck, police concurred, letting the man off without a ticket.
Earlier this summer, police encountered a spree of similar infractions, as employees of EcoShield were reported on streets including Springwood Lane in Northwest Woods and Highland Park Boulevard and Morris Park Lane in Freetown.
This time, the ticketed peddlers came from all over the country, maintaining residences in Oxford, Mich., and Phoenix, as well as Hicksville, police reports indicate.