Blotter: Two reports of property reported stolen

Southold police responded to the following incidents from March 23 to March 30: 

• On March 23, a King Kullen employee called police after leaving the workplace about 7:15 p.m. to start his car and returning 15 minutes later to find the car turned off and the key missing. He stated this was his normal routine, that he could not find the key anywhere in the vehicle or in the store, and did not know anyone who would take his key. He reported nothing else was taken, and fortunately had a spare key. The store did not have any cameras that might have captured the incident.
• Police were contacted on March 27 regarding property reported stolen from a vehicle on South Street in Greenport. The vehicle’s owner had tracked the property through a stolen cellphone to Bayview Farms in Aquebogue, where officers found a woman who described the stolen property as a white bag containing the cellphone, $1,500 in cash, sunglasses and a Chase bank card, along with a separate folder containing two medical cards, $100 in cash, a state ID card and a pistol permit certificate. A delivery driver in the vicinity was questioned and admitted to finding the bag in the road near Main and Silvermere roads in Greenport. He told police it was his intention to deliver the bag to police after finishing his deliveries. He told officers he found no folder or documents with the bag, the contents of which were intact, and allowed officers to search his truck. The missing folder was not found in his vehicle. Police returned the property to the owner and no further action was taken.
• Officers visited three properties on The Strand in East Marion on March 23, at the request of Town Trustees. In each case, they found bulkheading and retaining wall work had been done without the necessary permits. The work began approximately at the base of the bluff and extended to the top of the bluff, with intermittent retaining walls. None of the property owners were in residence, but all were contacted by phone and advised of the violations, for which summonses were issued.
• On March 24, a Cutchogue father worried about being late to pick up his son from school prompted a school official to call Southold police. The report stated that a white pickup truck sped through the school parking lot, passing four stopped school buses with lights activated and “Stop” signs deployed, and knocking over a traffic cone in the process. Another school official had spoken to the driver, and directed him to a different area, but rather than go back out to Main Road, he instead cut through the lot “at a high rate of speed.” When contacted via phone by police, the man apologized and no charges resulted.
• Police were called to a reported gas leak at a Southold home on March 24. The resident told officers and the Southold Fire Department that he had accidentally broken a gas pipe while moving a couch and the smell of gas began to fill the house. SFD shut off the gas and advised the resident to have the pipe repaired immediately.
• A Mattituck man called police March 26 to report seeing an unknown male on his rear deck via his Ring camera. Officers arrived and confirmed that the subject was the caller’s father.
• On March 28, during routine patrol, an officer observed an eastbound vehicle failing to maintain its lane on Middle Road near Depot Lane. A traffic stop was executed and the operator, identified as Alkaleem Chavis of Mount Vernon, N.Y., 37, was allegedly found to be intoxicated at the scene. He was transported to headquarters for processing and held for morning arraignment.
• On March 29, a caller reported an eastbound vehicle failing to maintain its lane on Main Road near Chapel Lane in Greenport. Officers located the vehicle, pulled it over, and observed multiple empty cans of Mike’s Hard Lemonade inside, as well as a half-full Modelo beer can that was cold to the touch. The driver, identified as Ariel Ochoa-Veliz of Greenport, 36, allegedly had a “strong” odor of alcohol on his breath; bloodshot, glassy eyes; and an unsteady gait. His performance on standard field sobriety tests indicated intoxication and Mr. Ochoa-Veliz was arrested and taken to police headquarters for processing.
• Police responded to the Citgo gas station in Cutchogue on March 29 on a requested well-being check for the driver of a black Ford pickup in the station’s rear parking lot, where officers found the vehicle to have been involved in a minor accident involving a dumpster. The driver, identified as Patrick Buckley of Cutchogue, 68, was allegedly determined to be intoxicated, arrested and transported 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.