Police & Courts

A 56-year-old man was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, on Dec. 23 after crashing a 1997 Ford van into bushes off Route 27 in Montauk near Ditch Plain Road.

A 68-year-old man was seen in the 7-Eleven parking lot at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, urinating into a jar.

A 17-year-old girl went to the East Hampton High School resource officer on Dec. 4 to report that she has been receiving harassing messages through her Instagram account since October.

Lisa Rooney of Montauk faces 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison but remains free without bail under New York State’s new bail reform law.

The news stories that captured East Hampton Star readers' attention in 2019 include headlines involving murder, drunken-driving crashes, major drug busts, fires, and a shooting.  

The parents of a 15-year-old were arrested Friday night after East Hampton Village police found teenagers drinking at a house party at 26 The Circle.

A fire Saturday morning in a Water Mill home owned by the publishing heiress Anne Hearst caused major damage to the 17,000-square-foot house, though Ms. Hearst and several family members escaped uninjured. Firefighters were able to rescue two cats and a substantial amount of artwork.    

The Southampton Town fire marshal investigating the cause said that between the size of the residence and the way it had been built, the fire proved difficult to put out, with pockets of flames popping up from behind walls well into the evening.

Parks police are investigating a death in Montauk's Camp Hero State Park, believed to be a suicide, on the day before Christmas. 

Two accused murderers spent Christmas behind bars while their cases remained pending in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead.

The owner of Village Hardware in East Hampton was arrested Saturday on a child endangerment charge in an incident that police say happened in the store on Oct. 13.

A man arrested in October for allegedly forcing a woman he had just met to perform a sex act on him pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in East Hampton Town Justice Court, but will have to register as a sex offender.