Blotter: No plate, no insurance, no license, no luck

Southold Town police responded to 87 incidents from Aug. 10 to Aug. 16, including the following:

• A Mattituck Park District employee reported Aug. 10 that someone stole the Breakwater Beach sign from the entrance to the parking lot sometime after 9:15 p.m. the previous night. The green-and-white sign displayed the beach name, a park district logo and beach-opening dates. Extra patrols were requested and the complainant indicated he would consider pursuing a criminal charge if a culprit was located.
• Police were called to a verbal dispute on Wickham Avenue in Mattituck Aug. 10. A woman stated that while walking by a former employer’s building she flashed a middle finger to indicate animosity toward him. In response he came out of the building and a verbal argument ensued, during which the woman claimed her former boss stated “he was going to strangle her and she should call the cops,” according to the report. The boss said that he had fired the woman June 10 after being dissatisfied with her work, and she had since walked past his building several times, often “cursing or speaking poorly about him” with employees. He denied threatening to strangle her, a claim backed up by a witness. Officers attempted to complete trespass paperwork, but the boss refused to pursue it without lawyers. The woman was advised to stop all contact with her former employer.
• A Southold man reported Aug. 10 that a Stihl weed whacker had been stolen from inside one of his farm vehicles near Middle Road and Youngs Avenue about two weeks earlier. He did not want to pursue charges but requested extra patrols.
• Police responded to a Front Street restaurant in Greenport shortly before closing Aug. 11 after a server there reported a dispute with a customer who had arrived from the beach with a towel and no shirt on. The man reportedly went to put on a shirt when asked and later joined his son at a table. But an argument developed after the server asked if he needed anything else, and the man reportedly responded “What does it look like?” in an aggressive manner, as there was no silverware at the table. He left the premises at police request without incident and was not charged for the food his son had ordered.
• A Mattituck driver was pulled over and received multiple traffic citations Aug. 12 after being observed by an officer heading westbound on Main Road operating a truck with no front license plate and a heavy front windshield tint. A DMV check revealed he was also driving on a suspended license, that the truck was uninsured and that the rear license plate returned to a different vehicle with a registration that had expired in 2020. The vehicle was towed and the plate confiscated.
• A Greenport woman reported Aug. 12 that Ring camera footage showed someone trying the door handles of her vehicle shortly before 1 a.m. The vehicle was locked and the person was unable to get inside before leaving westbound on a scooter. Nothing was reported missing and no damage was found.
• A Mattituck woman reported Aug. 13 that she lost $4,950 after receiving a scam email from someone claiming to be from the Town of Southold. The email referenced a permit she had filed with the zoning board and demanded payment, which she sent from her Citibank account. She later contacted the bank and police.
• A Greenport man reported Aug. 14 that his legally parked vehicle on West Street had been damaged sometime overnight in an apparent hit-and-run. His security cameras did not capture the incident and police said the investigation would continue.
• Police responded to Sterling Lane and Main Road in Cutchogue Aug. 14 after a complaint about a woman promoting political candidates for election. The woman denied using a megaphone to “insult civilians” and told police she would pack up her signs and leave the area.
• An anonymous caller reported Aug. 14 seeing a motorist throw trash from a vehicle while traveling west on Route 48. Police located the vehicle and said the driver acknowledged throwing water bottles out the window near Vineyard View Apartments in Greenport. He was issued a summons.
• Police were called to a Southold business Aug. 14 after a man allegedly refused to leave after the establishment had closed. A manager told police the man had entered the bathroom and refused repeated requests to leave. He told officers he had to use the bathroom because it was an emergency and he was not afforded adequate time. Police issued him a trespass notice and he left without incident.
• A Fishers Island woman reported Aug. 16 that someone stole a wooden post with a convex traffic mirror from the intersection of Reservoir Road and Winthrop Drive. She told police it was the third time the mirror had been stolen and that she had attached an Apple AirTag to it, but the AirTag was removed and left in the hole where the post had stood. Police found no cameras or other evidence in the area.
• Southold, Cutchogue and Greenport firefighters responded Aug. 16 to a structure fire on Ackerly Pond Lane in Southold, where a barn was fully engulfed in flames and a nearby shed was also damaged. The property owner told police the barn contained chainsaws, blowers and other equipment and said workers earlier that day had used linseed oil and left oil-soaked rags inside. Suffolk County Arson investigators determined the fire was not criminal and was most likely caused when improperly stored rags spontaneously combusted.

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.