Police & Courts

The National Transportation Safety Board faults Ben and Bonnie Krupinski's pilot, Jon Dollard, for the plane crash that killed him, the Krupinskis, and their 22-year-old grandson off Amagansett in June of 2018.

Four men have been indicted on charges of operating as major drug traffickers, a top felony offense, in the alleged drug ring that the Suffolk County District Attorney's office said last month was responsible for distributing more than $1 million worth of heroin on or near the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. 

After news of John James Usma-Quintero’s death reached Colombia, many were angry that the driver had been let out on such low bail. “We don’t want any other family to go through this pain,” his brother said.

Patchita Tennant, a well-liked manager at the CVS pharmacy on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, was indicted last week on new, upgraded charges that include the attempted murder of her boyfriend in their Flanders home in September.

Last Thursday evening in Sag Harbor, village police charged a woman with misdemeanor drunken driving after an officer saw that her older model Mercedes had no lights, either headlights or taillights.

A homeless man contacted police with a complaint about UPS on Friday. He was advised to follow up with the company’s complaint department and said he would.

A swastika and some writing in Spanish were found spray-painted on a large rock in Springs last week, raising community concern of a hate crime, though police believe it was an isolated incident that was the work of juveniles.

A drug dealer was arrested after a teenager "ingested an unknown type of drug" in East Hampton Village on Halloween, village police said.

Family and friends of John James Usma-Quintero, who was killed when he was hit by an alleged drunken driver on Wednesday night, will gather on Sunday at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. 

Lisa L. Rooney, a 30-year-old Montauk resident and business owner, was released on $1,000 bail on a misdemeanor D.W.I. charge Thursday morning. Charges will likely be upgraded.

Fireplace embers fell into a small grating in front of the fireplace at an East Hampton house Saturday morning and started a fire.

A massive drug ring operation that each year distributed more than $1 million worth of heroin cut with fentanyl near the Shinnecock Indian Reservation was taken down last week. According to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini, the deadly opioid cocktail was linked to at least five fatal overdoses.

Employees at White’s Apothecary called police on Oct. 23 after confronting a woman who put a cosmetics case in her tote bag before purchasing it.

A Montauk man, Gregg S. Weinstein, was charged Friday with misdemeanor criminal contempt in the second degree for allegedly sending emails he was not supposed to.

In another relatively quiet week on the roads, East Hampton Town police charged just one man with drunken driving. Gregorio Tovar-Reyes, 41, of East Hampton was arrested on the misdemeanor offense on the afternoon of Oct. 21.

Only one drunken-driving arrest was made over the course of the last week. East Hampton Town police charged Jose R. Llivisaca-Nieves, 45, who lives in the town, on Sunday during a routine traffic stop.

Police were called to check on a man sleeping in his vehicle on Dunemere Lane on Saturday morning around 10:20. As it turned out, the 57-year-old man was just catching some shut-eye while waiting to pick up an 11 a.m. fare on Old Beach Lane.

On Thursday afternoon, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini's office announced the arrest of 24 people in connection with an alleged drug distribution ring on the Shinnecock Reservation.

A motorcyclist escaped serious injury Sunday morning after a 91-year-old driver failed to yield the right of way at an Amagansett intersection.

Thanks to neighbors who smelled smoke, a woman who fell asleep early Sunday morning with a pot on the stove was awakened by first responders before the situation got out of control.

East Hampton Village police made two drunken-driving arrests over the holiday weekend.

A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly forcing a woman he had just met to perform a sex act on him.

Fire destroyed a Jeep during the morning commute in East Hampton on Thursday morning. 

The pilot who was flying the small plane that crashed off Amagansett in June of 2018, killing all four people aboard, including Bonnie and Ben Krupinski, last radioed in to air traffic control that he was at 700 feet and “coming in underneath” the thunderstorm, according to the findings of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

Mark Smith was sitting in front of his restaurant, Coche Comedor on Montauk Highway, on Oct. 2 at about 1:35 a.m., when he saw a man steal a decorative rock in the driveway.

A woman was arrested in Montauk Sunday evening after she punctured a tire on her husband’s vehicle and pushed another woman, East Hampton Town police said.

On Sunday at about 9:40 a.m., an 87-year-old man was taken to the hospital after a two-car accident by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton Village.

East End residents woke up to flooding, power outages, and downed trees on Thursday morning after a powerful storm blew through the region on Wednesday night.

The Amagansett Fire Department celebrated its members, both the seasoned veterans and the newer volunteers, at its annual dinner at the Devon Yacht Club on Friday night.

A portion of Main Street/Route 27 in East Hampton Village is closed to traffic in both directions on Thursday after a large tree fell across the road.