Blotter: Cops called for a creepy package and a flapping flag

Southold Town police responded to 90 cases during the week from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30. Several of them involved incidents of criminal mischief involving damage to or manipulation of Flock cameras: on both sides of Sound Avenue at Aldrich Lane in Laurel, where wires were cut and camera lenses cracked; at Carroll Avenue and Route 48 in Peconic; and at Knapp Place and Main Street in Greenport. Other reported incidents included the following.

• Police were alerted to an accident at Shore Dive in Greenport on Aug. 24 about 1 a.m. and responded to find two men next to a vehicle that had crashed into a tree. One of them stated that he was the vehicle’s sole occupant and had been on his way home from the Whiskey Wind, where he admitted he had consumed alcohol. Joshua Patsos of Greenport, 33, was observed to be unsteady on his feet and have the odor of alcohol on his breath. After he performed poorly on standard roadside sobriety tests, police placed him under arrest and transported him to headquarters for processing, where he was held for arraignment.
• The owner of a Greenport restaurant reported to police Aug. 25 that four separate checks written to purveyors, which had been mailed out from Babylon, had never reached their intended recipients and had instead been cashed by various unknown parties. Two of the checks were actually cashed twice, by both mobile and physical deposit. The restaurant provided copies of the checks to police and had already notified their bank of the total lump sum loss of $2,316.78.
• Passing motorists alerted police Aug. 25 about 5:20 p.m. to a vehicle on Route 48 n Peconic that was unable to maintain its lane and traveling at considerably less than the posted speed limit. Officers located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. The driver was identified as Robert Castro of Mastic, 58, who consented to field sobriety tests and was determined to be impaired. He was arrested and transported to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, where he refused a blood kit. A further test by a NYST DRE confirmed impairment, after which Mr. Castro was taken to police headquarters, processed and held for arraignment.
• A Mattituck resident called police Aug. 26 to report that someone had stolen a 30 mph street sign from near his house after using the stone base of his bird bath to knock it down. The highway department was notified of the theft and the caller requested extra patrols in the neighborhood.
• Riverhead police contacted STPD Aug. 26 about 4 p.m. regarding a lost paddleboarder, who had reportedly set off from South Jamesport Beach. Southold officers located the man at the end of McDonald Road in Laurel and escorted him back to his vehicle in South Jamesport.
• A Cutchogue woman called police Aug. 26 after receiving an unexpected package labeled “cremated remains,” stating that she did not feel comfortable opening it. Responding officers opened the package, which contained three six-packs of seltzer. The woman then called her husband, who confirmed he had ordered the seltzer online and said a USPS carrier must have placed the items in a “cremated remains” box.
• A report of wood on fire outside a Mattituck residence was called in Aug. 27. Officers on the scene found a large stack of firewood in flames, and Mattituck Fire Department responded to extinguish it. The fire marshal said he believed the cased was related to soldering work being done by a plumber outside the residence. Attempts to contact the homeowner were unsuccessful.
• A 54-year-old Greenport woman called police Aug. 29 with a noise complaint, saying that her neighbor’s flag was flapping too loudly, making it difficult for her and her parents to sleep. She requested that police ask the neighbor to take the flag down at night. She did not wish to make the request herself due to previous disputes between them. The responding officer told her he could ask but that the neighbor could not be compelled to lower the flag at night. The officer made the request, and the neighbor understood but did not say if he would comply.
• A man called Aug. 29 about 7 p.m. to report an erratic driver in Mattituck, with whom he’d gotten into a verbal altercation. Police responded with a K-9 officer and the caller told them he had seen the driver, Sebastein Castro-Hernandez of Mattituck, 24, driving recklessly in residential neighborhoods. During interviews, Mr. Castro-Hernandez admitted to being the vehicle’s operator and to having consumed alcoholic beverages before driving. Officers observed him to be unsteady on his feet; have glassy, bloodshot eyes; and have the smell of alcohol on his breath. After performing poorly on roadside sobriety tests, Mr. Castro-Hernandez was arrested, taken to police headquarters for processing, where he agreed to a breath test, 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.