Southold blotter: CVS employees thwart phone scam
On Sept. 2, a 73-year-old Mattituck woman reported an online scam. She told police she’d received emails from someone purporting to be one of her friends, who she knew had just had surgery. The emails said the “friend” was recovering and needed some assistance — asking the victim to buy her Apple and Google Play gift cards at a local CVS. Employees at the CVS warned the victim that the scenario sounded like a scam, and she reported it to police. An officer called the victim’s friend and determined that she had been hacked.
• On Sept. 2, police received a call about an apparently intoxicated person struggling to swim in the water off Fifth Street and Oyster Point in Greenport. Responding officers found a 40-year-old man, who appeared inebriated and said he was having trouble swimming because he was wearing jeans. Police advised him of the dangers of swimming while intoxicated and wearing improper attire.
• On Sept. 2, Santiago Najera Jimenez of Southold was arrested for driving while intoxicated after an officer reportedly observed the vehicle he was driving swerve off the road on Cox Lane in Cutchogue and nearly drive onto the shoulder. The officer pulled the car over and, according to police, administered field sobriety tests on which Mr.Jimenez performed poorly.
• On Sept 5, a Peconic woman reported the theft of a light blue Schwinn women’s bicycle with white trim from Jean Cochran Park on Peconic Lane. Police canvassed the area without success.
• On Sept. 6, a quick-witted Cutchogue woman reported being the target of attempted identity theft. The woman, 72, told authorities that she received an email from “AllClear” stating that her social security number had been leaked online, and providing a link. Instead of clicking on the link, she notified the credit reporting company Experian to freeze her credit report to prevent identity theft.
• On Sept. 6, a Southold woman reported being the possible target of a scam. She said that on Aug.1, two young men in their 20s or 30s, driving a black pickup, knocked on her door and offered to repair her driveway. The homeowner, 89, agreed. The two men, who identified themselves as Joey Delmaro and Paul, put down on oil coat on her driveway, and then asked for a $3,400 check to purchase supplies so they could complete the job. They never returned. The victim said she waited more than a month to report the incident, hoping the men would return and finish the job.
• On Sept. 6, police received a report of an eastbound car driving erratically on Sound Avenue in Mattituck and pulled over a Coram woman. She said she was on her way to rehab at Eastern Long Island Hospital and was trying to get her belongings organized while driving. A warrant check revealed an active warrant for the woman in Blair County, Pa. A Southold police sergeant contacted Suffolk County police and was told that the woman could not be extradited because the warrant was for a misdemeanor. She was advised to contact Blair County Sheriff’s Office when she completes rehab to get the warrant cleared.
• On Sept. 6, police responded to a report of a disturbed person at an urgent care facility in Cutchogue. A responding officer interviewed a Southold woman, who claimed the staff at the facility declined to treat what she described to police as “highly contagious chicken pox with a kick.” The woman became agitated when she was told she might have a bug bite, not an infectious disease, according to police. She refused an offer of medical care from a responding officer, and left the location without incident.
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.