Blotter: DWI, larceny and a head-butt on cops’ weekly list

Southold police responded to 86 reported incidents during the week from July 13 to July 20, a number of which seemed to come in pairs.

• Police received two reports of potential hazards to navigation, both on July 13. In the first, a resident called about a dock floating off James Creek, which ultimately beached itself on Southold Town property at the end of Bay Avenue in Mattituck. Officers secured the dock to a bulkhead to await removal by the town Departments of Public Works. Less than two hours later, police were called to Third Street in Greenport, where dock debris was creating a waterway hazard and North Ferry personnel had secured it to the Railroad Dock to keep it from entering the channel. Officers relocated the debris to a pylon at the village visitors’ dock and notified village personnel to arrange for its removal.
• Southold police also responded to two crash detection notifications, one on July 14 and another July 15, both of which resulted from drivers leaving their cellphones on the roof of a vehicle and then pulling away. Neither driver was in need of assistance and both phones were recovered.
• On July 14, ER staff at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital called police for assistance in dealing with a man being uncooperative and yelling. They requested an officer’s presence during the man’s discharge so that he would leave without further incident. The man left in a taxi. On July 17, however, officers were called back to the ER, where the same man had returned, saying he was experiencing homicidal thoughts and seeking psychiatric evaluation. He was verbally confrontational with ELIH staff, but compliant with police and was kept at the hospital for admission.
• Officers were called upon twice last week, on July 14 and 16, to remove signs that had been zip-tied to Flock cameras in Greenport. One at Main Road and Moores Lane read: “Flock I sell your whereabouts to the highest bidders.” The other, at Main Street and Knapp Place, said: “The Town of Southold is violating your 4th Amendment rights.” Both signs were placed in the department’s impound yard.
• In response to Village of Greenport reports about three abandoned vehicles, police went to Johnson Court July 15 and conducted E-Justice inquiries that revealed numerous irregularities with invalid and/or switched registrations and insurance lapses. Tow trucks were requested to remove all the vehicles to impound, but in one case, the owner came out to ask that the car be left in his driveway across the street instead. That request was granted but plates were surrendered. A voicemail was left for another owner; no address or contact info could be found for the most recent owner of the third vehicle. All three had been reportedly been parked on Johnson Court for extended periods.
• The chef/manager of a Greenport restaurant called police July 17 after staff informed him that a former employee was coming in. The employee had been fired and had not yet picked up his final check. Other staff who had seen him outside the restaurant told the manager he’d made threats against the restaurant’s bookkeeper, saying, “I’m gonna punch her in the face.” The man picked up his check without incident and was officially trespassed from the location, making him subject to arrest if he returned.
• A New York City couple flagged down an officer on patrol in Greenport July 18 to report that one of them had found a “toy gun” at a park in Riverhead only to discover that it was a real gun, which they wished to turn over. The officer contacted Riverhead PD and the gun was placed in their custody.
• A Greenport man reported July 18 that his E-scooter had gone missing overnight from the Greenport Skate Park after he left it there to charge. An area canvass was negative, but officers were to check for security footage. Larceny paperwork was completed.
• A man called police July 18 to report that he had been head-butted by a fellow employee of King Kullen in Cutchogue after a dispute, and that the employee had tried to punch him. A small laceration on the complainant’s nose was photographed and officers went to the alleged assailant’s residence. There, he admitted to getting into a fight with his manager over the hours he was working. Brandon Fleischman of Peconic, 19, was placed under arrest for alleged criminal harassment and transported to headquarters for processing. He was also issued a notice of trespass for the King Kullen store.
• Police were called to East Marion July 19 about 3 a.m. to intervene in a possible fight between two women, one of whom believed friends of the other had stolen things from her son’s room. During the investigation, officers learned that one individual had in fact entered the son’s room and taken a Playstation 5 and a black backpack. Ruben Diaz of Shirley, 44, was arrested for alleged larceny, taken to headquarters for processing and held for arraignment,
• On July 19 about 3:30 a.m. police responded to a motor vehicle crash on Main Road in Southold and found a vehicle that had sustained damage after striking a tree while traveling west. The driver, who admitted to operating the vehicle, performed poorly on standard field sobriety tests and took a preliminary breath test that registered a .10% BAC. Yefferson Reyes-Arevalo of Cutchogue, 19, was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, taken to ELIH, then processed at headquarters and held for 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.