East Hampton Village
Responding Friday night to a report of a structure fire on Further Lane, an officer spoke with the homeowner, who explained that he’d left a piece of pie in the microwave for too long. It burned, resulting in the odor that triggered the report. Firefighters cleared the scene, confirming that there was no fire.
After a Jericho Lane resident reported flooding in her backyard on Nov. 5, an officer identified the source as a drain hose. He followed the hose back to a neighboring property on East Hollow Road, where he saw an employee of a Hampton Bays-based pool company emptying a pool for the season. The worker was ticketed for discharging swimming pool water onto a public road and ordered to appear in Town Justice Court toward the end of this month.
Montauk
The I.G.A. reported a Junior’s Mini Cheesecake stolen on Election Day morning, and police apprehended the shoplifter, an 86-year-old Fairview Avenue man, about 30 minutes later. He was still in possession of the cheesecake and reportedly admitted to the offense. Charged with petty larceny and fifth-degree possession of stolen property, he was released with a ticket to appear in Justice Court next week.
A “suspicious male,” wearing a Knicks jacket and hat, was seen sitting on the front porch of a Hoppin Avenue house last Thursday afternoon, and a neighbor called police. The man told them he was friends with the homeowner and had made plans to visit him that day, but no one was home when he arrived. He’d brought a gift, an Ensure nutrition shake, which he left on the porch before being escorted to the 7-Eleven, where he said he would grab a coffee before walking to the station and catching the 2:30 p.m. train back west. A search of the Hoppin Avenue property did not reveal any damage, and the homeowner later verified that there had been a miscommunication about the visit.
Sag Harbor
Village police received a “Fall” notification from an Apple Watch on the evening of Nov. 5 and followed the GPS location to a residence on Concord Street, where they found the watch’s owner lying on the floor of his upstairs bathroom. An officer assisted the man onto his bed and called Sag Harbor E.M.S., but when they arrived the man said he “was not injured” and refused medical attention.
A contractor working on a neighbor’s property dug up her boxwood without her permission, a William Street resident complained to police last Thursday afternoon, and removed it “to look for wires.” She later found the uprooted plant across the street on the construction site. An officer “walked over, grabbed the boxwood, placed it at the caller’s property,” and then made multiple attempts to speak with the contractor about the incident, but was not successful. He took pictures of the scene for the case folder and planned to follow up at a later time.
A stranger had walked into the garage of a West Water Street residence and refused to leave, a housekeeper told police, explaining that he’d approached her through an open door while she was cleaning and refused to leave when asked. She called her boss and handed the intruder the phone, she said, and heard him ask “whether the owners were Jewish” and “if they were currently in town” before walking out, back in, and then finally leaving the property.
A canvass of the neighborhood was unsuccessful, but an officer recognized the man the next day, walking past police headquarters, from video surveillance provided by the homeowner, and detained him for questioning. He’d been searching for the Center for Jewish Life, the man claimed, and had followed the directions of Google Maps into the garage, mistakenly believing it was his destination. He was advised not to return to the property.
Springs
A woman reported being harassed in the dog park on Friday afternoon, telling police that a man had taken out “a silver folding knife” and pointed it at her “in an aggressive and threatening manner.” Police identified a Town Lane man as the suspect, and charged him about an hour later with second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both misdemeanors. He was to have appeared in court on Saturday morning, and will be due back at a future date.
Town police have closed the case of two large pumpkins stolen off a front porch on Hog Creek Lane, with no leads having turned up. The homeowner reported the theft on Oct. 30, saying he’d been at his residence in the city earlier in the week and returned on the 29th to find his two large pumpkins, valued at $30 each, gone. Everything else appeared to be in order, he said, and he did not want to pursue charges but did want to document the incident.
