Police & Courts

Two fires this week, one in a house and the other in a trailer, were swiftly handled by the East Hampton Fire Department, both in under an hour.

When East Hampton Town police responded last week to a minor rear-ender accident on Montauk Highway by Buckskill Road, they found that Johnny Rojas Orellana of East Hampton, whose car was hit, had been driving without a license. He will appear in court on Jan. 6.

"It was a very different summer," said John Ryan Jr. Covid ensured that there were indeed unprecedented logistical differences, but nothing about the commitment of East Hampton Town's lifeguards had changed.

Christmas Day was not so merry for Manuel Pena-Tacuri, 32, of Montauk Highway in Amagansett, who was spotted there that morning drinking while driving his 2021 GMC, according to East Hampton Town police.

A red Specialized Fuse bicycle was last seen on Nov. 28 leaning against a fuel pump at the town marina on Three Mile Harbor. Brett Nicholson said he had special-ordered it from Khanh Sports for $2,700.

For many people, 2020 has been challenging, but as the chief of the East Hampton Ambulance Association, Lisa Charde has led a team of volunteers and professional paramedics in harrowing conditions. 

At the Buckskill Tennis and Winter Club on Saturday night, a man told police he'd fallen on the ice close by a young girl, scaring her. Her father then "got in his face," yelling at him for skating too close to his daughter, and "told him to grow up," the report said. The man said the father grabbed him, and while trying to push him away he struck him in the face.

Mary Murphy-Ballreich of East Hampton, 47, was arrested on Dec. 2 at the East Hampton Veterinary Group on a misdemeanor charge of "torturing or injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance."

After 31 years with the East Hampton Town Police Department, 26 of them leading the DARE program in schools, Officer Kim Notel's retirement on Tuesday was the start of a new era, not just for her but for everyone who knew "Officer Kim" in the classrooms and on the roads.

"Lewd acts" were reported taking place in the back of a dark sedan behind the Division Street hardware store on the evening of Dec. 9, but the car was gone when an officer arrived to investigate.

Manuel Tenen-guanga of Southampton, 30, was arrested twice last Thursday.

Route 114 near Whooping Hollow Road in East Hampton was closed because of a downed utility pole that fell Thursday morning. There were no injuries, according to East Hampton Town police, and PSEG was working to repair the damage. 

Deer in the headlights caused a few collisions last week, but no drivers were hurt.

Elizabeth Whelan Kotz, who on Tuesday became the first woman to be elected a commissioner in the Bridgehampton Fire District, said she hopes she is "the first of many to come."

Police are blaming shotgun rounds for broken back windows at a Shore Road residence on Friday afternoon. The homeowner noted increased hunting and clay pigeon shooting in the area. Damage was estimated at $4,500.

A single motorist was charged with drunken driving in East Hampton Town last week.

Two drivers in East Hampton and one in Sag Harbor were charged last week with aggravated unlicensed driving after police stopped them for alleged traffic infractions.

Best Pizza and Dive Bar on Napeague is among the latest round of 36 restaurants in New York State that have had their liquor licenses suspended for alleged violations of public health laws instituted under Covid-19.

Charles Streep’s attorney, Randy Mastro, the personal attorney to Rudy Giuliani, filed a motion to dismiss David Peralta’s lawsuit minutes before midnight on Wednesday.

Residents can cast their ballots on Tuesday in fire district elections across the region, granting five-year terms to commissioners who oversee finances and operations in local fire departments. The Springs and Bridgehampton districts have contested races this year; in Amagansett, there is a separate proposition on the ballot.

At around 1 a.m. Saturday in Sag Harbor, James Maloney of East Hampton drew police attention while arguing with someone about who would drive his oddly parked 2020 BMW, which was impeding westbound traffic on Jermain Avenue.

Charles Streep, whose felony assault charges in last summer's alleged road rage case involving David Peralta of Springs were reduced recently to misdemeanors, is now facing similar charges — assault, battery, and intentional infliction of personal injury — in civil court.

Homeowners on the Circle reported on the morning of Nov. 25 that a "bunch of kids" had stolen a $40 white pumpkin from their porch.

What the occupants of a Pantigo Road, East Hampton, house initially thought was the smell of leftover smoke from the fireplace just after midnight on Monday turned out to be a basement ceiling fire.

On Saturday evening, after David Weinzweig, 42, of East Hampton, driving a 2017 Hyundai, rear-ended Remigio Sinchi's 2019 Toyota on Main Street near Woods Lane in East Hampton Village, police charged him with driving while intoxicated, saying that he had failed roadside sobriety tests.

No one was injured on the roads this week, but deer were very much crossing as rutting season continues.

With a pistol in his left hand, East Hampton Town police reported last Thursday, 20-year-old Cristian Chumbi of Kingston Avenue, East Hampton, "intentionally placed or attempted to place another person in reasonable fear" while at home around 6 p.m.

Break-ins, altercations, and maskless customers in the police logs this week.

The East Hampton Town Board was expected to vote Thursday to accept a donation to the Police Department of approximately $53,000, which will be used to purchase a firearms training simulator.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday signed legislation that will create a state task force on recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters, but it came as surprising news to at least two local fire department chiefs.