Police & Courts

Joseph Grippo's appearance in Suffolk County Criminal Court on Thursday was markedly different from the last time he appeared there before Justice Stephen L. Braslow. Instead of insults, Mr. Grippo apologized to the judge, who on April 25 had held him in contempt and ordered him out of the courtroom.

Three people were charged with driving while intoxicated in the last week.

A mysterious "foaming chemical" was observed on the shoulder of Montauk Highway in Amagansett on the afternoon of May 3. By the time they arrived, the officers could not locate the spill.

Joseph DeCristofaro has been named the first honorary chief in the East Hampton Fire Department's 132-year history. 

Summing up his department’s just-released report on police activity in 2021, East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo sounded justifiably content. “Some of the national trends in both personal crime and property crime that seem to have been spiking have not impacted us here," he said. "We’ve trended down in almost every criminal defense category over the last few years."

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, but the glider was not found.

After an officer clocked his Jeep going 51 miles per hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone in Northwest and noticed a strong smell of alcohol, an East Hampton man ended up spending the night at police headquarters before being arraigned the next morning on drunken-driving charges.

Around dinnertime on April 18, an East Quogue woman was headed east on Montauk Highway near Sayre’s Path in Wainscott when her 2007 Honda crossed the double yellow lines into the westbound lane, and crashed head-on into a 2007 Toyota.

Town police charged three East Hampton men with driving while intoxicated last week.

An East Hampton man received some scary phone calls on March 15. The caller said he’d kidnapped the man’s wife and demanded $3,000 to release her. The man was told to go to a Mastic 7-Eleven with the money and warned not to talk to anyone about it.

Joseph Grippo of Montauk, who is facing a second-degree murder charge following the death of a former friend in June 2019, was held in contempt during a Monday appearance at Suffolk County Criminal Court, and ordered out of the courtroom and back to county jail after reportedly cursing multiple times at the judge.

“It’s been my pleasure, and honor, to serve as the village’s chief engineer for the last four years,” East Hampton Village Fire Chief Gerard Turza Jr. told the village board as he prepared to pass on the title of chief to Duane Forrester.

When they talk about the birth of their second daughter, Cody and Lauren Vichinsky will have quite the story to tell.

A Pennsylvania woman who had been reported missing was found in Amagansett last Thursday when she crashed her car into a utility pole.

According to East Hampton Town police, a man brandished a weapon during an altercation and punched a victim multiple times in the face, causing pain and bleeding and necessitating medical attention.

Graffiti, including drawings of “male genitalia” together with the statement that “life sucks,” were found on Friday at the bus stop on Newtown Lane.

Looking out his side-view mirror, a driver of a cement truck watched in horror as the cement drum broke off the bed of the vehicle, which then overturned.

Near sunset on Friday, an erratic driver was reported near a Laura’s Lane house in Springs. Police found a blue and white Mustang near the pavilion at Maidstone Park and let the driver know he’d been seen driving well over the speed limit. The man said he’d observe the limit going forward and was waved on.

A loud crash shortly after midnight on Sunday alerted a Sag Harbor Village police officer on routine traffic patrol at Hampton Street that something was awry.

Police reported the arrests this week of two people on charges of drunken driving.

Mysterious McDonald's hamburgers, accompanied by greeting cards, showed up close to midnight Friday at a Bon Pinck Way property in Springs. One burger was found in the mailbox, one was at the beginning of the driveway, another was by the car, and yet another on the front porch.

Two separate accidents resulted in injuries to drivers this week.

The St. Patrick's Day parade in Montauk on March 27 led to some alcohol-fueled, rowdy behavior, according to East Hampton Town police, who were called on two occasions to the Shagwong Tavern. One person there described the place as packed wall to wall with revelers, despite a $10 cover charge. In the end, a couple of arrests, and a separate charge of harassment, soured the festive mood.

Late on the afternoon of March 21, an East Hampton Village officer watched a man drive a 2021 Mercedes-Benz north on Main Street, cross the double yellow lines, and make an unsafe left turn. As he was being pulled over, the car smacked into the curb, causing it to stop. The man ended up with a driving while intoxicated charge and a night at police headquarters.

Someone attempted to gain control over the social media and PayPal account of the Sag Harbor Liquor Store on March 23. Police advised the business to change its passwords. Later that day, the store owners received harassing text messages, wishing their failure and demise. They wanted the incidents on record.

Police recorded a single accident on local roads last week involving a 2014 Dodge pickup thats brakes had locked up in Springs.

When police pulled over a driver in East Hampton on March 23 because his car had "an obstructed view," the officer reported seeing a glass pipe and smelled a strong odor of marijuana in the car, then found Ziploc bags and a digital scale.

In March of 2021, when police charged a man with robbing and kidnapping a woman in Springs, community members were shocked to hear of it. A woman reported being robbed of thousands of dollars and her cellphone in broad daylight, as she sat in her car, parked at the Springs School around student dismissal time. Fast forward a year: Jay Rowe of Springs, 48, pleaded guilty on Friday to first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping, and grand larceny, all felonies.

After a man fell asleep at the wheel on Route 27 near the overlook in Montauk, his pickup truck crossed the oncoming lane and hit a guard rail just west of Beech Street.

A man from Riverhead ended up with an appearance ticket when a traffic stop in Montauk revealed that pickup truck was missing the interlock device with which it should have been equipped.