Police & Courts

After 40 years on the force, it’s not a single rewarding moment that stands out for East Hampton Village Police Chief Michael Tracey but rather “the little things. Maybe you pull someone over and they’re scared to death, their hands are shaking, and you can put them at ease. You have to be willing, and awake, and paying attention, to see the opportunity to make a difference.”

At Si Si at East Hampton Point Sunday afternoon, an “extremely agitated and intoxicated” East Hampton man, 33, was yelling that his friends had stuck him with a bill of $855.41. Police called his mother, and she called in with a credit card. An officer drove him home, passing on a warning that he’s not permitted to return to the restaurant.

The East Hampton Town Board hired a neutral investigator to probe personnel matters within the Town Police Department in light of the scathing complaint filed in June by Officer Andrea M. Kess alleging she is a victim of gender-based discrimination and harassment in a hostile work environment.

Lifeguards were busy on East Hampton beaches in the last week, with rip currents and marine life matching up with heavy crowds. “We made 16 saves between Aug. 7 and Aug. 14,” said Drew Smith, the head lifeguard for East Hampton Village. “We’ve had an unusually busy summer.”

A Lily Pond Lane homeowner lodged a civil complaint on Aug. 8 against a contractor “who had not been removing his shoes as he’d been instructed to do.” The contractor agreed to abide by her rules in future. A few days later, a manager at Stop and Shop reported two customers arguing over the price of watermelon on Friday afternoon and asked that police intervene.

East Hampton Town police charged a Montauk man with third-degree criminal mischief, a felony, following an Aug. 8 incident at Gurney’s Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa.

Prosecutors in both Suffolk County and town court systems are turning up the heat on drunken drivers, leaving them with little room to plead down their charges.

Police arrested two men on felony charges of drunken driving last week, one in Montauk and one in Sag Harbor. Both men reportedly attracted police attention with traffic violations.

A resident of Harbor Avenue in Sag Harbor called police on July 31 when, just before 10 p.m., a man claiming to be with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office knocked on his door and began asking questions about a woman named "Lisa." The man, described as "late 40s or early 50s, wearing a baseball cap and plainclothes, with a shield on a necklace around his neck," provided no identification and left when the resident said he didn't know Lisa. Officers canvassed the neighborhood but couldn't find anyone matching the description.

East Hampton Town police arrested two men on Monday who are alleged to be responsible for the theft of hand tools from an unoccupied house on Harbor Boulevard in Springs.

Lifeguards responded to what appeared to be two swimmers in distress a mile out from beach access marker number 14A on July 26 at around 4:30 p.m. A search on Jet Skis revealed that there were no struggling swimmers in the water — it was a 14-foot-long log.

Following an ongoing investigation into thefts from restaurants of used cooking oil, which is considered a valuable commodity that is frequently sold to biodiesel fuel refineries, two UpIsland men have been arrested. They are charged with multiple counts of misdemeanor petty larceny and one count each of third-degree criminal mischief with intent to damage another person’s property, a felony.