Blotter: Baby, you can drive my car

Southold police reported 64 incidents during the week from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5, including the following:

• Officers responded to the scene Sept. 28 just after midnight when an eastbound car crashed into a utility pole on Sound Avenue in Laurel. The car’s owner, a Massapequa woman, was found to be a passenger in the rear seat, and explained to police that she had allowed a stranger named Sarah to drive her vehicle home from the Quogue East Pub because Sarah “appeared to be slightly less intoxicated” than she was. She told officers she was falling asleep in the back seat when the collision occurred. When she awoke, “Sarah,” described as a “heavy-set” blonde woman from Greenport wearing a pink tank top and heels, had fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction. No one was in the vicinity and there were no witnesses and, according to police, no evidence that another party had been driving the vehicle. The vehicle owner’s boyfriend, a Southold man, also responded to the scene and corroborated her story. She was transported to ELIH by Mattituck Fire Department Rescue. PSEG also responded and shut down traffic on Sound Avenue, as the pole had fallen across the roadway.
• On Sept. 28 at 8:33 a.m., an officer was inside the Mattituck 7-Eleven during a routine patrol and noticed that the credit card machine there was damaged. Staff reported to him that a man standing outside had punched the machine. Outside, the officer found a man matching their description, who was observed to be urinating on the building. For that offense, Raymond Cheshire of Fort Salonga, 57, was placed under arrest and taken to STPD headquarters, where a criminal mischief affidavit was completed. Mr. Cheshire was processed and released. A detective also reported to the scene to take statements and receive video footage.
  The following day, Sept. 29, police encountered Mr. Cheshire twice, once after he was identified on a report of a man wheeling a shopping cart down Love Lane in Mattituck. The cart was found to contain a JBL speaker known to the officer to belong to a Love Lane business owner. The speaker was returned and no charges were filed but Mr. Cheshire was trespassed from the business premises. About six hours later, police were called to a Mattituck restaurant where a man reportedly came in for tea and had yelled and thrown a box of tea at an employee because they did not have the kind he liked. Once again, Mr. Cheshire was identified and trespassed from the premises.
• A Greenport woman reported to police Sept. 28 that she had been alerted that a check she wrote Sept. 18 to a local company for $1,934.99 had apparently been taken from the mail, altered and subsequently cashed by “Marvens Oriental” of Brooklyn. Her bank had already begun an investigation and detectives were notified.
• On Sept. 28 about 3 p.m. police received a report of an eastbound vehicle making a U-turn on Route 48 near Peconic Lane and then failing to maintain its westbound lane. Officers observed the vehicle out of its lane and pulled it over near Elijah’s Lane in Mattituck. The driver, identified as Santos Diaz Benitez of Centereach, 36, reportedly stated that he had consumed alcohol earlier in the day and consented to standard field sobriety tests, on which he performed poorly. He was arrested, taken to headquarters for processing and held for arraignment.
• After receiving an unexpected bill from EZ-Pass linked to a toll crossing on Aug. 23, a Greenport woman called police Sept. 30 to report the theft of her vehicle’s rear license plate, which she had not noticed was missing. The bill enclosed a photo showing her license plate, issued to her Lincoln vehicle, affixed to a Honda. She requested a police report in order to dispute the charge with EZ-Pass. A stolen plate alert was issued.
• A Greenport resident called police Sept. 30 to report a man with a gun banging on his upstairs neighbor’s door. The caller, who left the location for safety, told officers he had no interaction with the man, who was then identified by police and detained. He had in his possession a black Glock replica airsoft pellet pistol, which was confiscated pending investigation, and which he denied brandishing. He said the incident was a “misunderstanding” between himself, his girlfriend and a third party, both of whom were uncooperative with officers. No charges were filed.
• A West Islip man was charged with possession of a controlled substance Oct. 1, following a motor vehicle accident in which he lost control of his vehicle while reaching for a dropped cellphone and crashed into a utility pole on Main Roard in Orient, splitting it in half and damaging a deer fence. Keith Hawkins, 26, was known to the officer from a non-criminal incident that occurred several hours earlier. During the investigation, the officer observed in plain sight on the floor of the vehicle a clear plastic pag containing gray pills, which Mr. Hawkins admitted were Oxycodone. He was taken to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital for medical evaluation and was issued a Field Appearance Ticket for a future court date.
• Police were called to Oregon Road in Mattituck Oct. 2, when a Flanders woman got into a dispute with a manager at her workplace, saying he would not allow her to do her work, and ultimately threatened him with a pair of scissors. The manager told officers the woman, who was a temp worker on her first day in the job, had become upset with the way he was talking to her about doing her work properly and that he “felt scared for his life.” The manager did not want to pursue charges, only for the woman to leave the premises. Officers took her to the Laurel post office to wait for a ride from a friend.
• An officer on routine patrol in Greenport on Oct. 3 observed a vehicle turn north on Main Street from Front Street and then accelerate to a high rate of speed, squealing its tires. He pursued the vehicle, which eventually turned right onto Shipyard Lane in East Marion, where he initiated a traffic stop. The driver, Aron Rossetti of East Marion, 21, underwent standard Field Sobriety Tests, which yielded positive results for intoxication, after which he was placed under arrest, transported to headquarters for processing and held for arraignment.
• Police were alerted Oct. 4 about 7:30 p.m. to a driver possibly doing “whippits” in a Greenport parking lot, and responded to find a male subject in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle, and acting irrationally by dancing and ignoring other STPD units on the scene. The officer was eventually able to identify the subject as 29-year-old Timothy Busso of Southold, who admitted to doing “whippits” and to having consumed multiple alcoholic beverages earlier in the day. Upon exiting the vehicle to undergo field sobriety testing, Mr. Busso was observed to have glassy, bloodshot eyes, be unsteady on his feet and have the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. After performing poorly on roadside tests, he was arrested, taken to headquarters for processing and held for a morning arraignment.
• During routine patrol Oct. 4 an officer observed a vehicle traveling at a very low rate of speed and failing to signal when entering a driveway off North Road in Southold about 8 p.m. The officer identified the driver as Cristian Quezada Zelada, 48, who was observed to have glassy, bloodshot eyes, be unsteady on his feet and have the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. He performed poorly on all field sobriety tests and was determined to be intoxicated. Mr. Quezada Zelada was arrested, taken to headquarters for processing 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.