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Police & Courts

On the Police Logs 12.25.14

East Hampton

The men’s room by the cafeteria at East Hampton High School on Long Lane was the target of a vandal last Thursday. Adam Fine, the school’s principal, told police that at about noon someone slammed “a blunt instrument” at the toilet in the handicapped-access stall, damaging its right side.

East Hampton Village

The swimming pool at a house on Sherrill Road was being drained into the street by a Wainscott pool company a little after noon on Dec. 16.

Dec 24, 2014
Out-of-Court Deal Irks Town Judge Rana

An attorney from Shoreham received some stern words from East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana before she agreed to a plea bargain for his client that had been worked out with the district attorney’s office without consulting her first.

Chad A. Leat, 58, was arrested on a drunken-driving charge by East Hampton Village police on Nov. 15. His attorney, Austin M. Manghan III, had negotiated for Mr.

Dec 24, 2014
Springs Man in Speonk Brawl

A Springs man already facing a felony burglary charge in East Hampton Town Justice Court may now be facing Christmas in jail after having been arrested again early Saturday morning.

Southampton Town police said Monday that Lucas M. Ward, 21, was a participant in a fight at a house party on Montauk Highway in Speonk. According to Sgt. John Boden, Mr. Ward and a friend, Joshua R. Kulp, 21, of Speonk, were upset that they had been asked to leave the party. Mr. Kulp allegedly began throwing lawn furniture and bottles at a 2008 Mercedes-Benz parked outside, and then left with Mr.

Dec 24, 2014
Fire District Revote Set in Bridgehampton



A revote in the Bridgehampton Fire District’s commissioner race has been scheduled for next month after the district found that two people who were no longer residents of the district had cast ballots.

With 175 votes on paper ballots there was a tie between Philip Cammann and John O’Brien, but once write-in votes were counted, the vote went in Mr. O’Brien’s favor. However, because there was no legal certainty as to whom the two nondistrict residents voted for and such a small margin separated the candidates, a revote will be held.

“We chose Jan.

Dec 18, 2014
In Court: Stolen Pots, Felony Pot Bust

A Springs man accused of stealing decorative cast-iron lawn pots from a neighbor was arraigned Sunday morning in East Hampton Town Justice Court on charges of petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

Joseph A. Hawkins, 23, told East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana that one of his jobs was scalloping.

“How much do you make scalloping?” she asked. “I forget,” said Mr. Hawkins. She continued to question him and he continued to give vague answers.

“Don’t you think you might have to do something to make a living?” Justice Rana finally asked.

Dec 18, 2014
On the Logs: 12.18.2014

East Hampton Village

A woman from Orchard Lake, Mich., who made a series of purchases totaling $166,000 earlier this year from Lord and Guy, a Main Street auction house dealing in antiques and fine art, called police on Dec. 10, complaining that she had returned several items to the store a few months ago and had not yet received her money back. The items returned included a ring, a Rolex watch, and a diamond and sapphire gold necklace, altogether valued at $48,000.

Dec 18, 2014
Utility Poles Were the Victims in Alleged D.W.I.s

Two motorists collided last weekend with utility poles on the two main arteries in and out of Sag Harbor. One is facing charges of driving while intoxicated.

The first crash, on Hampton Street at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, involved a 2013 Volkswagen Beetle driven by Julia M. Hentschel, 18, of Wainscott. Sag Harbor Village police said she was standing by the car, whose airbag had deployed, when they arrived.

Dec 18, 2014
Two Seriously Injured in Off-Road Montauk Collision

Two men suffered serious injuries when the all-terrain vehicles they were riding crashed into each other in the woods behind the Montauk recycling center on Sunday afternoon.

Dec 14, 2014
Aftermath of an Accident



A Springs man convicted of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in October after a three-day jury trial was sentenced last Thursday.

William Cuthbert, who turned 57 yesterday, was ordered to pay East Hampton Town Justice Court $1,575 in fines and fees. As a condition for avoiding probation, he was required to complete an anger-management course over the next year; failure to do so would result in his being resentenced. In addition, he must stay out of trouble with the law over the same time period.

As he stood before Justice Steven Tekulsky, Mr.

Dec 11, 2014
D.W.I. Arrest in Montauk



There was just one arrest this past cold and rainy week on charges of driving while intoxicated, that of an Amagansett man, Robert J. Badkin, 51. Mr. Badkin was pulled over on Edgemere Street in Montauk, near where his business is located, last Thursday evening.

East Hampton Town police said the motorist failed roadside sobriety tests and was taken back to headquarters in Wainscott, where his breath test was reportedly recorded as .12 of 1 percent. A reading of .08 or higher triggers the D.W.I. charge.

Mr.

Dec 11, 2014
Graffiti Found on Stop Signs



As demonstrations swept across America in the hours after the decision by a Staten Island grand jury last week not to indict a New York City police officer in connection with the death of a man he had placed in a choke hold on July 17, one or more individuals took to the streets of East Hampton Town and Village, apparently expressing anger with the decision.

East Hampton Village police reported on Monday that in the overnight hours following the Dec.

Dec 11, 2014
Guilty Plea in a Fatality



A Hampton Bays woman charged with drunken driving after her passenger died in an early morning single-car crash in Southampton Village on April 19 pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to vehicular manslaughter, a felony.

Allison J. Rydberg, 26, admitted that her blood-alcohol level was well over twice the legal limit at the time of the accident, and that she had been driving at an excessive speed.

Tad Scharfenberg, her attorney, said last week that she would be sentenced on Feb.

Dec 11, 2014
On the Police Logs 12.11.14



East Hampton

A hacker broke into the Fingerhut account of an Oakview Highway woman last month and changed the mailing address. Fingerhut was notified and is monitoring the account. Eileen Schaefer told police no purchases had been made on the account.

East Hampton Village

An anonymous caller told police that occupied cars were parked on Mill Hill Lane for extended periods of time Friday evening.

Dec 11, 2014
I’m Not Going to Pass the Test’



East Hampton Town police arrested two 23-year-olds on drunken-driving charges over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Both were said to have cooperated fully with the officers.

Carlos Serra-Bencosme of Montauk was pulled over on Edgemere Road there early Monday morning. Police said his 2014 Kia was swerving across lane lines.

“I’m not gonna lie. I had like, four beers,” the officer quoted the driver as saying. At police headquarters in Wainscott he consented to take the breath test, which produced a reading of .14 of 1 percent.

Dec 4, 2014
On the Police Logs 12.04.14



Amagansett

A pickpocket was caught on video at Indian Wells Tavern around midnight on Nov. 15, reaching into a jacket pocket of a patron and stealing her wallet. The victim, Jacqueline Albright-Kehoe, said she did not want to press charges as long as the thief either returned the Coach purse, which had $30 in cash and a debit card in it, or reimbursed her for the stolen items. The tavern’s manager, however, told police that the suspect is no longer welcome there.

Dec 4, 2014
Also on the Logs 11.27.14

Amagansett



A car parked on Shore Drive East over the weekend of Nov. 8 and 9 had its taillights vandalized and its rear license plate removed. Ramon Guante estimated the damage, including the cost to replace the stolen plate, at $250.



East Hampton



Francis F. Fleetwood was the target of an email phishing scam on Nov. 17.

Nov 26, 2014
Charge in Theft of Jewelry

A married couple from Calverton admitted last week, in separate statements to the police, that they had stolen jewelry from the woman’s mother, a resident of Springs with whom they had been staying, to feed the man’s heroin habit.



East Hampton Town detectives, who had been investigating the repeated thefts from a Lotus Avenue house, took Jacqueline Cobb, 30, and Jason A. Cobb, 33, into custody on Nov. 19. Each was charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, a felony. More charges could be pending.



According to their statements, Ms.

Nov 26, 2014
This Time, It Is a Felony

A 25-year-old Springs man who has been in trouble with the law several times since he turned 18 was arrested again last week, this time on a felony charge.



Kody J. Knudsen was said by East Hampton Town police to have been driving a 2004 Chevrolet without its owner’s permission when he was pulled over on Three Mile Harbor Road in Springs a little after midnight last Thursday. According to police, Mr.

Nov 26, 2014
A Correction

In an article last week on the upcoming trial of Jason Lee on charges including rape, a headline on the article stated that jury selection would begin on Jan. 27. That date has been set aside for any remaining pre-trial issues to be settled, with jury selection expected the following week.

Nov 25, 2014
Car Crash Closes Highway

Southampton Town police are investigating the cause of an accident on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton Monday morning that left one of three vehicles involved in the crash in flames, and sent four people to Southampton Hospital with what Bridgehampton Fire Chief Gary Horsburgh described as minor injuries.



The accident happened a little before 7:30 a.m. Monday by Halsey Lane near Citarella. Rick Ostenberg, an East Hampton Fire Department chief, was in the area and was the first firefighter on the scene.

Nov 25, 2014
Banker Charged With D.W.I



A traffic stop of a 2014 Aston-Martin late Saturday night led to the arrest of a former Citigroup chairman on a drunken-driving charge.

East Hampton Village police said Chad A. Leat, 58, who splits his time between New York and Bridgehampton, was clocked at 45 miles per hour on Main Street, where the speed limit is 30, when he passed a southbound patrol car. The officer followed Mr. Leat as he turned west onto Woods Lane, and said the Aston-Martin was alternately swerving across lane lines and tailgating another car.

Mr.

Nov 20, 2014
Hiding in The Kitchen



East Hampton Village police arrested a Newburgh, N.Y., man early Saturday morning after a cab driver complained that he had not paid the $60 fare agreed upon.

At about 2:20 a.m., Joshua George Colon, 32, hired a Roadrunner taxi, driven by James Geddis, to take him from the Shagwong restaurant on Main Street in Montauk to the Huntting Inn on Main Street in East Hampton, but balked at paying the fare when they arrived in East Hampton. He told Mr. Geddis he would need to get money from his room, but then never returned.

Police found Mr.

Nov 20, 2014
On the Police Logs 11.20.14



Amagansett

Four custom-made scallop dredges and their frames were stolen out of William P. Carman’s boat, which was in his front yard on Abraham’s Path between 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 and 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 7. All told the cost to replace them is $550.

East Hampton

A duck blind belonging to Ethan S. King and Kelly King was stolen from Northwest Harbor sometime between Oct. 25 and Nov. 11. They told police it would have taken someone approximately two hours to remove the structure, which they said was worth about $500.

Nov 20, 2014
Police Warn of Phone Scam



Several residents and local businesses have been the targets of an ongoing phone scam, according to police, who are warning people to be on the alert.

On Nov. 11, Special Effects, a beauty salon on Osborne Lane in East Hampton Village, received a call from a man claiming to represent PSEG Long Island and threatening to shut off  its power unless he was given a credit card to settle an unpaid balance.

Nov 20, 2014
A Call for 24-Hour Medics



The Montauk Fire District’s board of commissioners faced a full house, including many of the hamlet’s older residents, when it met on Tuesday evening. The crowd showed up to ask the commissioners to extend their paid-paramedic program from 12 hours a day to full-time coverage.

The program, instituted to provide faster response, began in June 2013 and expired in September of that year.

Nov 13, 2014
Ebola Response Training

Like other emergency medical service providers on the East End, E.M.S. personnel in the Bridgehampton Fire Department, pictured above during a drill on Monday, are in the midst of training for how to respond in the event of a suspected Ebola case. Based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and mandates from the New York State Commissioner of Health, all emergency medical technicians, including volunteers, must learn how to don and take off infectious disease apparel. Suffolk County E.M.S. has been updating all 96 E.M.S. agencies on these procedures.

Nov 13, 2014
On the Police Logs 11.13.14



Amagansett

Police were called to Old Stone Market on the morning of Nov. 3 because a man who had previously paid for items with a check that bounced returned and tried to buy cigarettes. He was told he was no longer welcome at the market. The man became irate, frightening Bienvenida Pujols, who works there and had been issued a court order of protection against the man several years ago, which has since expired.

Nov 13, 2014
Road Arrest



East Hampton Village police stopped a Greenport woman who was driving without headlights Sunday evening and wound up charging her with felony possession of cocaine.

Woods Lane was the scene of the traffic stop. Police said the driver, Lynelle Christine Ross, 48, could not produce proof of insurance for her 2006 Mazda, which was found to have a suspended registration, a misdemeanor.

Nov 13, 2014
Tapped for Attorney General



Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which covers all of Long Island, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next attorney general of the United States. The President introduced Ms. Lynch as his nominee in a press conference at the White House on Saturday.

Last year Ms. Lynch began the prosecution of two South Fork cases that came to national attention.

In what she called “one of the largest investment frauds in Long Island history,” Ms. Lynch prosecuted two brothers-in-law, Brian R.

Nov 13, 2014
Tasered After Chase, Fight



A Sag Harbor man made a bad situation worse early Sunday morning, according to Southampton Town police. Kenneth Araya, 27, was driving on Noyac Road “at a high rate of speed,” police said, when an officer activated his emergency lights. The car kept going, however, leading police on a chase along side roads before finally coming to a stop on Peninsula Drive in Sag Harbor.

At the side of the road, according to the report, Mr. Araya fought with the officer, who was forced to use his Taser to subdue him.

Nov 13, 2014