An alleged workplace head-butt at King Kullen, runaway docks adrift on local waterways and a runaway driver who led police on high-speed chase topped another eclectic week for Southold Town police. The latest blotter also features a dispute over cigars, a beachgoer who refused to stop cooking over an illegal fire, an unpleasant stare reported to police, anti-Flock camera protests and a “toy gun” that turned out to be the real thing.
July 13 – Around noon, police received a call about a vehicle “all over the road” on Main Road in East Marion. A patrol officer located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. The driver, a North Amityville man, who said that the reservoir tank on the back of his vehicle was “almost full with liquid, which was causing his vehicle to sway slightly when going around turns.” The driver displayed no signs of impairment, according to a police report.
Around 2 p.m., police received a report of a dock floating off James Creek. When a police marine unit arrived, the dock was beached on town property at the end of Bay Ave. The officer secured the dock to the bulkhead and notified the town’s Dept. of Public Works to come remove the dock.
Around 4 p.m., a marine unit responded to Greenport for a report of dock debris creating a navigational hazard. When the unit arrived, personnel from the North Ferry had secured the debris to the railroad dock. Police secured the debris to a pylon at the Greenport visitors dock, and notified Greenport Village employees to arrange for its removal.
Around 8:30 p.m., police received complaints about youths “climbing on [an] office building” on Front St. in Greenport. A responding officer made contact with “multiple groups of juveniles” and informed them to stay off the office building. “The juveniles agreed,” according to a police report.
Around 11 p.m., police received a Flock camera notification of a suspended license plate, and initiated a traffic stop near Middle Road and Mill Lane in Mattituck, according to a police report. The driver, 27, of Riverhead, was found to be operating with a suspended license, as well as a suspended registration due to a lack of insurance. He received multiple summonses, the car was towed and the car’s license plates were confiscated by police.
67 Steps slip up
July 14 – Around 4:30 a.m., police received an iPhone crash detection notice, and responded to a location near North Road and Middleton Road in Greenport West. There they found a 21-year-old, who explained that she and her friend were at 67 Steps beach and had left the phone on top of the car when they drove off. No further action was taken, according to a police report.
Around 7:30 a.m., police were called to a residence on Third St. in Greenport, where the resident stated that two local men, well-known to police, were being “too loud” and had to leave. According to a police report, the two men left without incident.
Around 8 a.m., police were called to a local hospital where a patient, a 64-year-old East Hampton man, had been “uncooperative and yelling” in the past and was being discharged. Staff wanted to ensure the man would exit the premises without incident, which he did – in a taxi.
Around 11:30 a.m., a boater from Greenport West turned up at police headquarters to report that he had been involved in a boating accident three days earlier at Safe Harbor Marina. He told police that he was departing the marina in his J40 sailboat when he struck the stern of a 44-foot Pogo sailboat. The man claimed the Pogo sailboat was “berthed in a slip that appeared too small for the vessel, causing a portion of the vessel to extend beyond the slip. Both police and Safe Harbor Marina personnel made attempts to contact the owner, at least initially without success. The Greenport West boater filled out a state boating accident report documenting the incident, according to a police report.
Around 2 p.m., police received a report of “two sedans, one black and one white in color speeding and possibly racing each other” heading eastbound on Route 48 near Ackerly Pond Lane. A responding officer stopped a black sedan and spoke with the driver, a 28-year-old Matittuck woman. She told police she was returning to work from her lunch break and denied taking part in any street racing or knowing the identity of the driver in the white sedan. Since no traffic violations were witnessed prior to the stop, the driver was let go with a warning to drive safely.
Around 4 p.m., patrol officers in Greenport were approached by a woman who said she found a cell phone at Fifth St. Beach and wanted to turn it in. Police attempted to charge the phone, but it wouldn’t hold a charge, according to a police report. It was secured and inventoried at police headquarters.
Around 7 p.m., police removed a sign zip-tied to a Flock camera near Moores Lane and Main Road, which said “Flock I Sell Your Whereabouts To The Highest Bidder.” There was no damage to the camera reported. Two days later, they removed another sign zip-tied to a Flock camera near the corner of Main St. and Knapp Place in Greenport West, this one reading “The Town of Southold is VIOLATING your 4th Amendment Rights.” The sign also had “FLOCK” and two red arrows pointing to the camera.
July 15 – Around 6 a.m., on Second St. in Greenport, police assisted the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force with an arrest warrant. No further information was provided in a police report.
Around 10:30 a.m., police received a call from a woman in New York City, who told them a “paying customer was staying at her AirBnB and refused to leave. Responding officers knocked on the door but got no answer. They re-contacted the woman, at which point she explained that there had been a “miscommunication,” and that the guest had left.
Car trouble
Also around 10:30 a.m., police were called to Greenport, for a report of an apparently abandoned vehicle that had been parked on Webb St. for an extended period of time. The displayed registration was assigned to a 2018 Jeep Wranger, even though the car was a 2011 Chevrolet Suburban. A VIN inquiry determined that the vehicle did not have valid insurance. A tow truck was called, but at that point the car’s owner appeared, and asked to have the vehicle towed to his driveway. After checking with a sergeant, the officer agreed, but only after confiscating the vehicle’s license plates. Within the space of one hour, a second vehicle which appeared abandoned at the location was determined to have an invalid registration and towed away, along with a motorcycle that also appeared to have been parked there for an extended period of time, according to two additional police reports.
Around 11:15 a.m., police received another crash detection alert, from a cell phone registered to a Cutchogue woman, who told police she had left her phone on top of her vehicle when leaving a job site. After retracing her steps, she located the phone.
Bad stare day
Around 11:30 a.m., police were called to Bridge Lane in Cutchogue for a report of harassment. A man there claimed that “while sitting outside his residence attempting to take a mental break and clear his mind, his prior boss … drove by in his gray Prius and gave [the man] an unpleasant stare. A responding officer confirmed with the man that “nothing criminal in nature occurred” when the former boss drove by. The man said he was still “disgruntled” by the experience, according to a police report.
Around 1:30 p.m., police were called to the Adams St. parking lots to respond to complaints about a group of local people well-known to police causing a disturbance. Police spoke to the group and told them to clean up their trash, which they did before leaving the area.
Around 2:30 p.m., police responded to complaints about kids riding dirt bikes at a location on Pike St. in Mattituck, prompting an “obnoxious” amount of noise. Extra patrols in their area were requested.
Around 3 p.m., police responded to First St. in Greenport, where they found two people well-known to authorities “sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk.” Police woke them up and they left the area on foot without incident.
Around 11 p.m., a patrol officer was approached on Front St. in Greenport by an unidentified person, who turned over a tan “Juicy Couture” wallet with $52.50 in cash inside. The wallet was secured and inventoried by police.
July 16 – Around 10 a.m., police received a Flock camera alert for a car driving with a suspended license plate eastbound near Sound Ave. and Aldrich Lane. When a patrol car located the vehicle and turned on its overhead lights, the car sped off, eastbound on Route 48. The car continued to evade police before allegedly running a red light at Peconic Lane and Route 48 and speeding off. Police went to a waterfront restaurant in Greenport, the last known work place of the driver, Johnathan Coonan, 22, of Mastic, and arrested him.
Around 12:30 p.m., police received a report that a male subject “by the name of ‘Sergi’ was heading to a residence in Cutchogue “to look for alcohol.” The caller gave police information about the man’s Chevy Silverado and said that he “might be intoxicated.” According to a pair of police reports, ‘Sergi’ had done some work at at a Cutchogue woman’s house, and she had called him to find out when he was going to remove a dumpster he’d left on her property. She said he sounded intoxicated and asked her if she had any alcohol at her house, according to a report. She told him not to come over, but after hanging up became concerned and called a friend – who told her to get out of the house and contacted police. Police responded to the woman’s home in Cutchogue, but found no one there. Then they drove to ‘Sergi’s house, but couldn’t find him there, either. Around 3 p.m., police responded to a motor vehicle accident near Stillwater Ave. and Main Road in Cutchogue. Siarhei Palianok, 52, of Cutchogue – known as ‘Sergi’ – was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated.
Cigar dustup
Around 4:30 p.m., police were called to a residence on Main Bayview Road in Southold for a dispute over cigars. According to a police report, a 41-year-old Southold woman told police she was involved in a verbal dispute with a 60-year-old Southold man “over a box of cigars” at the residence. The woman “admitted that she started the argument and provoked” the man. The man told police she made him upset when she “wouldn’t give him a cigar.” Both parties agreed to stay in their separate rooms for the night.
July 17 – Around 1 p.m., a Greenport restaurant manager contacted police to report that a Greenport West man who was briefly employed there before being fired was on his way to the restaurant. The manager said the restaurant had been holding the man’s final check at the restaurant for a month because he hadn’t come to pick it up. But he said his staff told him the fired man had threatened to punch the restaurant’s female bookkeeper in the face. Another employee met the man outside the restaurant and gave him the check, telling him to leave, which he did. The fired man was notified by police that a notice of trespass had been signed against him, preventing him from returning to the restaurant without risking arrest. He told police he understood and wouldn’t return, according to a police report.
Around 9:30 p.m., a Southold woman arrived at police headquarters to file a complaint about someone trespassing on her property. She said that the previous evening around 8:30 p.m., a female rode up to her property on a bicycle, went through a gate and “left a minute later with what appeared to be at least one paving stone.” She told police that about a week prior, the same woman was seen walking through the property with a tan, medium-sized dog. She told police she wants the woman instructed to stay off her property.
Around 11:30 p.m., a Southold man was observed cooking food over an open fire on the beach at Goldsmith’s Inlet, and had to extinguish it. The man “ignored the warnings and continued cooking his dinner,” and was ticketed for town code violations.
July 18 – Around 8 a.m., police received a call about a man screaming and banging on a bus shelter at Main Road and New Suffolk Ave. in Cutchogue. Responding officers boarded a Hampton Jitney bus and asked the man – who did not have a bus ticket, according to a police report – step off the bus, and he complied. Asked for his name, the man “became increasingly irate and provided multiple names that were believed to be fictitious.” He was offered a ride to his destination, but declined the offer, leaving the area on foot.
Around 9:30 a.m., a Greenport West man reported to police that he had left his e-scooter at the Greenport Skate Park to charge overnight and returned that morning to find it gone. An investigation is ongoing, according to police.
Around 10 a.m., a patrol officer was flagged down on Front St. in Greenport, by a 59-year-old Manhattan woman. She told police her husband found “what was believed to be a toy gun” at a park in Riverhead. The couple later determined “the item was, in fact, a real gun and not a toy.” They turned the weapon over to Southold police, which contacted Riverhead police and turned the weapon over to the department.
Around 11:30 a.m., police received a call about a sign on private property on Hortons Lane in Southold which stated “Nazi genocide, Israel genocide.” The sign was determined to be within the parameters of the First Amendment. No action taken.
Butt, seriously
Around 1 p.m., police were called to the King Kullen in Cutchogue, where a 54-year-old employee told police that a 19-year-old employee “head butted” him during a verbal argument at the grocery store, causing a laceration on the bridge of his nose. Police located the 19-year-old, Brandon Fleischman, 19, of Peconic – who stated that “he got into a fight with his manager over hours he was working.” He was arrested and transported to police headquarters for processing.
Around 8:30 p.m., police were called to South St. in Greenport for a report of an “active fight.” There they found two men arguing with each other. Police separated both parties. One man said he had told the other man to leave his residence, but the other man “was not cooperating,” which led to a physical altercation. The man asked to leave was taken to his girlfriend’s residence in Greenport, and told police he would stay away from the South St. residence.
July 19 – Around 3 a.m., police were called to a location on Beach Court in East Marion, where a fight was reportedly brewing. A 58-year-old East Marion woman told police she was mad at another woman because she thought the woman and her friends had stolen items from a room her son was occupying. During a police investigation, it was determined that Ruben Diaz, 44, of Shirley took a Playstation 4 and a Nike backpack from the room, according to a report, and he was arrested.
Around 3:30 a.m., police responding to a motor vehicle accident found a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche had struck a tree while traveling westbound on Main Rd. in Southold. The driver, Yefferson Reyes-Arevalo, 19, of Cutchogue, performed poorly on field sobriety tests, according to a police report, and failed a preliminary breathalyzer test. He was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated.
All individuals named in police reports are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Charges may be reduced, dismissed or result in an acquittal.
