Blotter: Duck hunting near-disasters in Laurel

Southold Town police responded to the following incidents during the period from Dec. 22, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026:

• On Jan. 2 and Jan. 4, 2026, police received complaints from several Laurel locations about duck hunters allegedly hunting on private properties. In one case, hunters themselves called police, believing they had been shot at by a homeowner. In that case, the “shot” turned out to be fireworks the property owner had discharged in the hunters’ direction. All incidents were investigated and all hunters involved were found to be operating safely and legally within properly designated wetland areas.
• On Dec. 22, police approached a vehicle parked on Main Road in Southold alongside a closed business to determine why it had stopped there. The 19-year-old driver told officers he wasn’t feeling well after eating a spicy chip at a friend’s house, where he admitted he also “had a few beers.” Standard field sobriety tests, which the driver passed, were administered, after which officers escorted him to his residence because he was under 21 and had consumed alcohol. His vehicle was secured by the side of the road.
• Seconds after midnight on Dec. 24, police responded to an anonymous report of a westbound vehicle failing to maintain its lane on Main Road in Mattituck. Officers located the vehicle, a gray Chevrolet, with its right blinker on, and observed as it made a right turn onto Wickham Avenue, then stopped in the middle of the road. The driver was identified by a suspended learner’s permit as Maycon Rosales-Gonzales of Mattituck, 31. He was allegedly found to be intoxicated, transported to police headquarter for processing and held for morning arraignment.
• A vehicle fire involving injuries on South Harbor Road was reported at around 9 a.m. Christmas morning. Responding officers found an 82-yearold Stony Brook woman lying approximately 50 yards from a vehicle that had been burned down to bare metal. She had sustained burns to her wrist and elbow and possibly hypothermia, and was unsure of where she was or how she got there. She was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital. Detectives responded to photograph the scene and Southold fire crews extinguished embers near the vehicle. Investigation indicated that the woman had driven down a dirt road and backed up into the woods, where her car became stuck on a fallen tree. There, its exhaust may have ignited leaves and pine needles, eventually engulfing the vehicle. She had been able to escape and walk to the dirt road, where she lay down. Police were able to contact her son, who said she has a history of dementia and has recently become disoriented while driving.
• Officers responded at about 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 25 to a reported car-versus- pole accident at Bridge Lane and Oregon Road in Cutchogue. Upon arrival, police spoke with the acknowledged driver, Sean Rodger of Cutchogue, 49, who said he had taken the turn too fast and crashed into the pole. He was allegedly found to be intoxicated and transported via Cutchogue Fire Department to Eastern Long Island Hospital for medical evaluation. After his release, Mr. Rodger was taken to Southold headquarters for processing and held for morning arraignment.

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.