Blotter: Phishing scare at local school

In addition to complaints about awkwardly and inconveniently parked vehicles related to the recent pileup of snow, Southold Town police responded to the following incidents from Jan. 26 to Feb. 2: 

• Officials at Greenport Schools contacted police Jan. 29 to report an ongoing issue with phishing emails coming from IP addresses in Wisconsin and Hungary. The emails reportedly attempted to have the school’s business office change employees’ direct deposit information, using their email addresses. However, because the school handles such transactions only via pen and paper, no personal information or money was lost. School staff members were advised to change their email passwords. 
• On Jan. 27, a Cutchogue woman contacted police to report that she returned home from grocery shopping and found that some of her packages were missing from her vehicle. She returned to the store to check but apparently had not left anything behind. Responding police reviewed video footage from an adjacent business, which showed that she had loaded the groceries into her trunk and then drove away with the trunk open. The officer believed the packages had fallen out of the vehicle, but none were found in the vicinity. 
• An officer on stationary patrol Jan. 27 at Queen Street and CR 48 observed an eastbound vehicle traveling at high speed and attempted to follow. It gained distance on the officer, apparently passing other cars. At the same time, a call came in reporting an eastbound black Cadillac Escalade failing to maintain its lane in East Marion. The officer in pursuit was ultimately able to pull the car over just west of Browns Hills Road in Orient, where a westbound officer who had observed the car speeding also responded. The driver, who stated she was late for the ferry, was issued two traffic tickets. 
• A Riverhead man went to a self-storage unit he rents in Cutchogue on Jan. 31, where he found boxes knocked over and what appeared to be animal feces, reporting to police that an animal had chewed up paper and books stored there. He told officers that when he went into the office to inform management, he got into an argument with an employee of the facility, saying he said was rude, did not want to help him and asked him to leave. The employee confirmed the argument, adding that it escalated because the customer threatened legal action. The matter was resolved when the employee agreed to notify pest control to resolve the issue.
• Police responded Feb. 1 to a single-car accident on Main Bayview Road in Southold when an anonymous caller reported that a car had left the roadway and driven into a snowbank, after which the driver exited the vehicle and began walking down the road. Upon arrival, officers found the driver next to the vehicle and identified him as Luis Najera Jimenez of Southold, 35. Mr. Najera Jimenez was allegedly observed to have slurred speech and glassy bloodshot eyes, and to be unsteady on his feet. After reportedly performing poorly on standard field sobriety tests, he was found to be intoxicated, placed under arrest and transported to police headquarters for processing. 

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.