Southold Blotter: Man coerced into paying unknown scammer $500

On Tuesday, the East End Drug Task Force and Southold Town police arrested Maximillian Silem, 36, on two active arrest warrants at a home on Adams Street in Greenport. He was found to have a large quantity of fentanyl, crack cocaine, cocaine and pills, according to a police report. “Silem resisted arrest with the officers at the scene. He was arrested and transported to Southold Town police station for processing and held pending arraignment,” a report states.

• On Sept. 11, police arrested Thomas Smith, 61, of Greenport after he was found to be intoxicated in a car that reportedly failed to maintain its lane of travel. Police found the car parked on Third Street in Greenport with the engine running.

• On Sept. 12, a 54-year-old Greenport woman told police she was the victim of identity theft. She told police she received suspicious emails stating her passwords to various accounts had been changed and that $1,599.81 was taken from one account. An investigation is continuing.

• On Sept. 12, Jose Luna Gatica, 48, of Greenport was placed under “civilian arrest” for harassment based on a complaint from an unidentified Greenport person. Mr. Luna-Gatica was transported to police headquarters for processing.

• A 64-year-old Southold man told police last Thursday that he received a phone call identified by caller ID as a Customs and Border Protection office in Texas. The person on the phone told the man there was a warrant for his arrest and he would receive a call from a federal official in New York. Shortly after that call, the man received a call, which caller ID showed as the Southold Police Department. The message was for him to turn himself in to Southold police. The man then called Southold police and was told there was no warrant for his arrest and that the calls were a scam.

• A 36-year-old Greenport man told police Saturday that an unknown individual texted him to demand $500 or “they would cause harm to his family.” The man said he sent the $500 to the individual before he told police of the incident.

• On Saturday, Mario Uyu-Puluc, 30, of Mattituck was arrested after his car was reported to be failing to maintain its lane of travel. Police found the car stopped on Route 25 in Mattituck. Mr. Uyu-Puluc was in his car with the engine running, according to police, who said he performed poorly on a field sobriety test and was placed under arrest and was transported to police headquarters for processing.

• On Sunday, a Nassau Point resident reported an active house fire at a neighbor’s house. Three fire departments responded and found a fire in the basement of the house. Two occupants of the house were outside and safe.

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.