It was an exceptionally busy week for Southold Town police, who were called upon to investigate a stolen beach sign, hunt for a missing iPhone — and its owner’s mysteriously elusive girlfriend — referee a restaurant dispute over calamari and missing silverware, sort out a feud sparked by a former employee “giving the middle finger” to her old workplace and search and retrieve a kayaker lost on Long Island Sound. Officers also dealt with an emergency bathroom standoff at a Southold library and the third theft of a Fishers Island traffic mirror — by a culprit or culprits savvy enough to find and ditch the AirTag affixed to the traffic mirror pole.

Aug. 10 – Around 1 a.m., a resident on Island View Lane called police to report hearing someone inside home. Responding officers spoke with a 31-year-old Tuckahoe man, who told them he had sent a text to his aunt to let her know he was coming to the house. The aunt “came out of her bedroom” and confirmed this.

Around 2 a.m., police were called to a North Road residence in Greenport West by a homeowner who was not at the property, reporting four unknown individuals on the property. When police arrived and found a locked gate and no access point of entry, they re-contacted the homeowner, who at that point – according to a police report – told them the four individuals were spotted by security cameras four hours earlier. He said that copper piping had been stolen from the property two year earlier and that the front door had been damaged in that incident. Police advised the homeowner to  get a key for the lock on the gate or a code that officers could use to access the property in the future. An investigation into the four individuals is ongoing.

Around 3 p.m., police received a larceny report from a Mattituck Parks District manager, who said that someone had stolen the Breakwater Beach sign at the entrance to the beach parking lot. The sign is green with white lettering and includes the name of the beach, a park district logo, and the dates and times the beach is open.

One finger feedback

Around 4:30 p.m., police received an unusual report about incidents in front of a business on Westphalia Road in Mattituck. A 51-year-old woman reported that about an hour earlier, she walked by the business and “gave the middle finger to the building due to her animosity towards her former boss” – who was inside the building, according to a police report. The boss emerged from the building upon seeing the woman give the finger and an argument ensued. The woman claims her former boss “stated he was going to strangle her and that she should call the cops,” and sought to press criminal charges. A witness who works for the man told police she observed the entire dispute and did not hear her boss ever threaten to strangle the woman. The boss, 67, told police the woman had worked for him for a few weeks in late May and early June, but that he “fired [her] after being dissatisfied with the work she completed.” Since her firing, the 67-year-old told police, the woman has been “observed … walking by the [location] numerous times, often cursing or speaking poorly about him with employees of his company…” He told police that on that day, he had observed the woman “walk by and give the middle finger” to the building, at which point he said he “walked to the front door …. and asked her what her problem was.” He acknowledged telling the woman to “call police” but denied threatening to strangle her. Police sought to complete a notice of trespass form against the woman and collect camera footage from the man’s business, but he “refused to do same without lawyers” and said he would come to police headquarters at a later time. Police advised the woman to cease all contact with her former boss going forward.

Around 5:15 p.m., a Peconic farmer arrived at police headquarters to report that about two weeks prior, an orange and white weed whacker had been stolen from inside one of his farm vehicles, and he wanted the incident documented.

Shortly before 9 p.m., police received a report from an employee of a hotel on North Road in Greenport West. The employee had observed a male hotel guest “put something in the drink of the female guest he was staying with.” The employee reported the incident to a manager, who spoke to the female guest afterwards and reported that “she appeared fine.” The employee told police the couple “stayed in the area for an extended period of time and appeared to be ok,” but wanted the incident documented.

Find my iPhone – and girlfriend

Around 9:30 p.m., a 41-year-old Roslyn Heights man approached a patrol officer on Front St. in Greenport, “looking for help locating his phone.” Things got a little sketchy from there, according to a police report. The man told police he “thinks his girlfriend may have taken the phone, however he did not know her phone number and was unable to remember her last name.” Police “assisted [the man] in searching for his girlfriend and his phone, however did not locate either.” He then stated that his girlfriend “may have already taken an Uber home,” and told police he would stop by her place on his way home to find out. He described the phone as a white iPhone 16 with no case.

Aug. 11 – Around 8 a.m., Suffolk County police contacted Southold police, seeking a wellness check on a 21-year-old from Commack. Southold cops responded to the Cross Sound Ferry in Orient, but the individual had just departed for New London on the 8 a.m. ferry. Southold police informed Suffolk County police.

Around 8:40 a.m., police received a call about a car that had been parked on Wiggins St. in Greenport for “about two months.” Responding officers spoke with the car’s owner, who said the car has a salvage title and that “she is working through the steps to have the car registered in her name.” She was advised to move the vehicle onto private property until the issues are resolved.

Around 5:45 p.m., police responded to a complaint about a “grill and a tent” on the beach at the end of Sound Ave. in Peconic. Responding officers advised the grill’s owner, a 41-year-old Center Moriches man, that the grill was not permitted for use on Southold Town beaches, and the man complied and packed the grill away. But the officers observed the “tent” to be “fully open-sided and being utilized as a sun shade,” which is permissible.

Squid pro quo?

Around 6:30 p.m., police responded to a Front St. restaurant in Greenport, to mitigate a dispute between a patron and an employee. The patron, who identified himself only as “Peter” and wouldn’t provide police with further information, said that he was asked leave after a comment he made about the service. He told police he entered the restaurant in a towel and no shirt around 6 p.m., with his son, having come straight from the beach in Orient. He asked if there were tables available, and he was told yes, if he put a shirt on, according to a police report. Peter’s son waited for him at the table while he left the restaurant to go put a shirt on. While waiting for his father, the son ordered fried calamari. The employee, a waitress, told the son the restaurant closes at 7 p.m., and “wanted to know how long his father, Peter, would be.” Peter — now in a shirt — returned to the restaurant, learned of the question his son had been asked, and “was unhappy with [the waitress] for asking his son this question,” the report said. According to Peter, the waitress delivered the calamari — though there was no silverware on the table — and asked the father and son “Do you need anything else?” According to the waitress, “Peter then replied, ‘What does it look like?’ in an aggressive manner.” The waitress “then asked Peter to leave if there was a problem.” Peter complied, according to the report. “Peter asked the [responding officer] if he had to pay for the food he ordered. [The waitress] stated Peter did not and she wished for him to leave” — which he did, according to police.

Aug 12 – Around 7 a.m., police received a call from a 21-year-old Greenport woman, who — around 1 a.m. that morning — had observed through a security camera someone trying to open the locked driver’s side door of her vehicle, which was parked in a driveway on Front St. Unable to access the locked car, the alleged assailant “was observed leaving the area westbound on a scooter.” The woman wanted the incident documented, according to a report.

Around 6:30 p.m., police received a report of “an approximately ten-year-old boy” walking by himself near North Road and Moores Lane in Greenport. Police canvassed the area but were unable to locate any children by themselves.

Also around 6:30 p.m., a patrol officer observed a Dodge truck with no front license plate and a “heavy front windshield tint,” according to a police report, and initiated a traffic stop. The driver, Dallas Sanders, 20, of Mattituck, was found to be driving with a suspended license and no insurance, according to the report. Sanders told police the rear license plate on the truck “is a switched plate from an uninvolved vehicle” – a 2001 Ford Explorer with an expired registration, the report said. The vehicle was towed and Sanders was issued multiple summonses.

Around 7 p.m., a Fishers Island woman reported that her bicycle appeared to have been stolen from the Fishers Island school on Greenwood Road. Police made contact with the school principal, who provided security footage. The footage showed a local juvenile taking the bike, according to a police report. Police contacted the teen’s mother, who “stated that her son did not steal [the] bicycle, [but rather] thought that the bicycle was a school community bicycle that the school allows students to use. The mother would not allow police to speak to her son and was “uncooperative,” according to the report. The teen “immediately” returned the bicycle to the Fishers Island woman, the report said. She declined to press charges.

Around 8:30 p.m., police received an anonymous complaint that fisherman on Bailie Beach were “keeping undersized fish.” Responding officers issued tickets to vehicles in the parking lot that did not display Southold parking permits. They inspected each of the fishermen’s fishing licenses — all of which were valid — and their catches, which were also found to be valid.

Aug. 13 – Around 4 p.m., police received a complaint from the Southold Trustees office of a “subject removing boulders from the beach” off Main Road in Orient. A responding officer determined that a 40-year-old Mattituck man had the “boulders delivered there and was putting them onto his barge for use on a jobsite down the beach.” No violations were discovered.

Around 6 p.m., a Mattituck woman reported being the victim of a scam email. She told police she received an email that purported to be from the Town of Southold, requesting $4,950, which she sent from her bank account, according to a report. She told police she has a permit filed with the zoning board and that the email referenced the permit.

A long overdue checkout

Shortly after 8 p.m., police were called to a Southold library to mitigate a dispute involving an East Patchogue man, 34, who refused to leave the premises when the library closed. A library employee told police the man “entered the bathroom and refused to leave. After being asked multiple times and refusing to leave,” a library employee called the police. Responding officers interviewed the man, who “stated he had to use the bathroom, it was an emergency and he was not being afforded adequate time to do this.” Library employees signed a notice of trespass against the man, meaning that he could be arrested if he returns to the location.

Aug. 15 – Around 9:30 a.m., police were called to a residence on Stars Road in East Marion to mitigate a dispute over a fence. A resident there told police that a contractor cutting down trees on a bordering property that had damaged her fence, and that an “influx of deer entering her property through the damaged fence [were] consuming her vegetation and other garden produce.” The contractor told police he had spoken with the woman and intended to fix the damage fence himself, but the resident was unhappy that the fence had yet to be fixed. While being interviewed by police, the contractor noted that “Southold Town surveyors had recently been at the property line and had discovered that some of the [woman’s] fence was outside of her property line, but that he still opted to do right by [her] and repair the fence.” Both parties agreed to speak and “compromise about this matter.”  

Around 1 p.m., police responded to Middle Road in Mattituck for a “possible road rage incident.” According to a report, a 79-year-old Southold man was traveling eastbound on Sound Ave. and stopped for a vehicle to merge from a parking lot onto the roadway. An 18-year-old Lynbrook man behind him “sounded his horn due to the abrupt stop.” The older man “continued [eastbound], brake checking [the younger man’s vehicle] and switching lanes to prevent [him] from passing.” Both operators were advised to “be more aware of their surroundings and more patient with other motorists.”

Aug. 16 – Around 2 p.m., police received a report from a 45-year-old Southold man that “dogs were running loose and people were [barbecuing] at Cedar Beach in Southold. A responding officer spoke with a beach attendant, “who stated he had not seen loose dogs nor anyone [barbecuing].” The original complainant “did not want to be formally questioned,” according to a police report.

Around 3 p.m., police received a report of a kayaker who had been separated from his group in the Long Island Sound and couldn’t be located. A Southold Town police drone was used to assist in the search, and spotted the kayaker. Responding marine units were directed to his location, and he was brought safely to shore and reunited with his party, according to a report.

Mirror thief strikes again

Around 4 p.m., police on Fishers Island responded to the intersection of Reservoir Road and Winthrop Drive, where a convex traffic mirror attached to a post had been stolen for the third time, according to a homeowner who placed and replaced the mirror. After two thefts, the woman told police, she attached an Apple Air tag to the the post, but the Air tag had been removed and dropped into the hole where the post had been. This was her first time reporting the thefts, according to a report.  

Around 9:30 p.m., police and Southold and Cutchogue firefighters responded to an active structure fire on Ackerly Pond Lane in Southold, which led them to a fully involved barn fire at Cifarelli’s Nursery in Peconic, which had spread to adjacent structures. While the fire is believed to be non-criminal in nature, both Southold Town police detectives and Suffolk County Arson Squad investigators are looking into the incident. An investigation is ongoing.

Around 10:30 p.m., police responded to an accident scene in which a single vehicle struck a utility pole on Main St. in Greenport. Driver Stephen Palermo, 22, of Southold was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, according to a police report. He was transported by Greenport firefighters to a local hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.

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.