Police

Blotter: Cutchogue man retrieves gun from neighbor’s garbage

A Cutchogue man was arrested on weapon possession charges after he took a box containing a defaced handgun and ammunition from a neighbor’s garbage can Dec. 30, according to a police report.

The neighbor called police around 3:45 p.m. after he discovered a box containing a SCCY 9mm firearm and ammunition in his garbage can, officials said. But before police arrived, a man — later identified by police as 37-year-old Andrew Watroba — removed the box, claiming it was a gift for his father. He then fled the scene on foot, the report states.

Police later found the missing weapon in the water off Midwood Road, officials said. Mr. Watroba was brought back to police headquarters for questioning and was arrested, police said. He was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, both felonies, as well as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor, police said.

Mr. Watroba was arraigned in Southold Town Justice Court and held without bail, according to a court clerk. He’s due back in court this week.

• A Greenport man was arrested on a drunken driving charge following a two-car crash Dec. 30, police said.

Edwin Monroy, 33, was driving on Hummel Avenue in Southold around 5:40 p.m. when the crash occurred, officials said. The driver of the other vehicle, a 45-year-old man, suffered minor injuries and was transported to Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, police said.

Mr. Monroy was charged with driving while intoxicated, officials said.

• An apparently “confused driver” reached into his waistband during a traffic stop in Mattituck Monday evening, causing the officer to call for backup as a precaution, according to a police report.

The officer pulled over the driver on Route 48 around 4:50 p.m. for traffic violations and the driver gave different stories about where he was headed, police said. When the officer asked him to exit the car for a sobriety test, the man reached into his waistband, officials said.

The officer called for more police support and “cautiously removed [the driver] from the vehicle,” the report states. A search of the man found no weapons or contraband and the driver passed sobriety tests, officials said. No contraband or drugs were found in the car either, police said. The driver was issued two summonses for the traffic infractions.

• A house in Greenport caught fire early last Tuesday, sending three people to the hospital with chest pain and smoke inhalation, police said.

A resident at the home on Middleton Road called police after he noticed smoke coming from the basement, officials said. Greenport and East Marion first responders took three residents, including the caller, to the hospital for treatment, police said. After the fire was extinguished, town police detectives and the county’s arson squad were called to the scene to investigate. No cause was disclosed by police.

• Two homes on Soundview Avenue in Mattituck were broken into and ransacked last week, police said.

A woman who owns a second home on the street found the front door had been kicked in around 6:15 p.m. last Tuesday, police said. The interior had been “torn apart,” the report states.

During the investigation, an officer found an open door at a neighboring house and noticed items inside had been tossed around, officials said.

• A 7-Eleven customer may have thwarted an attempted larceny after he spotted four suspicious men at the Southold convenience store Sunday night, police said.

The customer called 911 around 5:20 p.m. after he saw a man distract a clerk while two others “appeared they were about to take some items inside the store,” according to a report. The men left in a vehicle after the customer questioned one of them, police said.

• An employee at a Cutchogue pharmacy refused to fill a prescription after he suspected it was a forgery, police said.

The employee received the prescription Friday and called the prescribing doctor to confirm the order for a sedative with codeine, which police said could be used as a recreational drug. The employee said the doctor sounded like he was on a cellphone and not in an office, according to a police report.

A police officer called the alleged doctor, who hung up after the officer identified himself, the report states. The prescription was canceled and detectives were notified to investigate further.

• An intoxicated man called police early on New Year’s Day after he was locked out of a house he had been hanging out in, according to a police report.

The man had thought the house was his brother’s home on New Suffolk Avenue, but got confused and ended up at his cousin’s house on Westphalia Avenue, police said. He was taken back to his house by police.

• The owner of a Greenport business reported that two youths took the mushroom anchor at Preston’s dock and threw it into the water Saturday afternoon, police said.

The suspects left the area, but were later located by a police officer, a report states. When they retrieved the anchor from the water, the business owner was pleased and no charges were filed, officials said.

• A package containing a $300 Dell computer was stolen from a home on Fleetwood Road in Cutchogue last Thursday, police said.

• Packages containing $100 worth of children’s toys were stolen from a Greenport Village business last Tuesday, police said.

Those who are named in police reports have not been convicted of any crime or violation. The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.