A pastry splattered across a windshield. A bear bones investigation. An envelope stuffed with cash, missing a single $100 bill. One commercial fishing boat sinking in Mattituck Creek, another blocking a roadway and fireworks that set beach dunes ablaze. This week’s police blotter also includes the arrest of a Greenport West man for allegedly harassing the owner and employees of a Greenport restaurant, two arrests for alleged drunk driving, one arrest for alleged cocaine possession and what appears to be an ongoing missing persons investigation.
Meanwhile, last week, Southold police conducted New York State Liquor Authority compliance checks at gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores and beer distributors throughout town, issuing appearance tickets for compliance violations to the Greenport Mini Mart and the 7-Eleven in Cutchogue. Seventeen other establishments were found to be in compliance, according to a police report.
Related: Inside a Southold police undercover operation
Late-night pastry attack
June 29 – Shortly after 1 a.m., a 27-year-old woman apparently had a pastry thrown at her windshield while driving along Factory Ave. in Mattituck — which “splattered,” as two alleged teen assailants fled on foot. According to a police report, the woman honked at the teens when she saw them walking in the roadway. At that point, according to the report, one of the two teens “threw a food item that splattered on her windshield, and then fled on foot.” A responding officer “observed something resembling a pastry” on the windshield, and located the teens in question. The teens told police they thought the driver “was a threat” and was following them, but ultimately apologized to the driver, while continuing to maintain they did not throw the offending pastry at the woman’s windshield. Efforts were made to reach the parents of the teens, and police spoke to a Mattituck dad, who said he would speak to his son and contact the parent of the other teen, who is from Farmingdale.
Around 10:30 a.m., police received a report of a boat blocking the roadway on Haywaters Road in Cutchogue. A responding officer observed a pickup truck with a boat trailer attached. The boat owner told the officer he was washing his boat and would be done in 10 minutes. No further action was taken.
Bear bones investigation
Also around 10:30 a.m., a 42-year-old Dallas woman visiting Fishers Island found a “skeletal hand and tibia” on Reservoir Road. A responding officer observed and photographed the bones before transporting them to police headquarters on the island, and forwarding the photos to a detective, who sent them to a county medical examiner’s officer. According to a report, the bones appear to be bear bones. An investigator from the medical examiner’s office confirmed they were “non-human.”
June 30 – Around 2 a.m., a patrol officer observed a vehicle traveling 76 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone on Middle Road in Mattituck, which failed to signal when changing lanes, according to a police report. A traffic stop was initiated and driver Patrick Doherty, 37, of Bay Shore, was found to be intoxicated and arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, according to a report. Doherty was transported to a local hospital for evaluation of a “laceration on his head sustained during a fight that occurred prior, at another location.” There, he was treated for the injury and determined to be “fit for confinement.”
Around noon, a Southold police marine unit responded to Mattituck Creek, where a 60-foot commercial fishing boat was “taking on water and possibly sinking,” according to a police report. The incident, in which diesel fuel leaked into the waterway, was reported to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, which is involved in an eviction process involving the apparently abandoned boat. The US Coast Guard’s Spills Dept. and the Southold Attorney’s Office were also notified.
Around 5 p.m., an Orient resident arrived at a Greenport bank to report that a check she had dropped in a Brooklyn mailbox to pay her Southold property taxes had been fraudulently by an unknown individual. A detective was notified, and the bank said it would conduct an internal investigation.
July 1 – Around 11:30 a.m., a Southold mom, 63, arrived at police headquarters to file a missing persons report concerning her son, who she reported had gone missing from a residential address on Hummel Ave. in Southold. A detective was notified and an investigation is ongoing, according to a report.
Around 2:30 p.m., a Front St. business owner reported to police that four men were blocking the alleyway between Front St. and the Adams St. parking lots. Confronted by police, the four individuals agreed to relocate, according to a police report.
Blowin’ in the wind
Around 5 p.m., a Mattituck man, 77, arrived at police headquarters with an envelope full of cash. He told police that when he went to retrieve mail from his mailbox the previous evening, he found an unsealed envelope on Grand Ave. “When he retrieved the envelope from the ground to check what was inside, he stated that one $100 bill [in] the original envelope was blown away.” The Mattituck man told police he held onto the envelope to see if the owner would turn up, but when no one did, he brought the envelope to police, who counted the money, inventoried it and placed it in a police property room.
Throwing stones
Also around 5 p.m., police were called to Champlin Place in Greenport West for a neighbor dispute that allegedly involved rocks being thrown by one neighbor at another. According to a police report, a resident new to the neighborhood had been doing renovations and landscaping at his property, prompting a dispute between himself and two married neighbors over where the property line was. “A verbal dispute ensued between [the two neighboring men], prompting [one of them] to call 911. The caller alleged that his neighbor “threw rocks in his direction, resulting in one to [sic] bounce and hit him in the face.” A responding officer saw no visible injuries to the face of the alleged victim, who refused medical attention. The alleged ricocheting rock prompted the alleged victim to return fire, throwing rocks back at his neighbor, according to the report. The married neighbors confirmed to police that a land surveyor was scheduled to come to the properties in the coming days. All three parties were advised to go to civil court if the problems persist.
Around 7 p.m., police were called to a Huckleberry Hill Lane residence in East Marion, where a waterfront homeowner told police that “an unknown male wearing a pink shirt was walking on the beach in front of her residence beside an unknown female.” The homeowner approached the male and told him he “wasn’t allowed to walk there.” The male countered that he was walking below the high tide mark. The homeowner disagreed and demanded that the male “get off her property immediately.” The two subjects left the area and continued walking east. A responding officer advised the homeowner that “she has to be cognizant of the high tide mark rules that are in place and those visiting may be unaware.” The homeowner said she understood, and no further action was taken.
July 2 – Around 5 a.m., Stephen Barszczewski, 31, of Greenport West, was arrested for cocaine possession, according to a police report.
Around 7 p.m., police — as well as Mattituck and Cutchogue firefighters — responded to a report of a boat on the rocks at the Breakwater jetty in Mattituck. The operator of the boat, a 35-year-old Flanders man, told police he ran out of gas and was attempting to pull the boat by a rope along the rocks to the shore. Mattituck firefighters were able to tow the boat back to the Mattituck state boat ramp.
Around 11 p.m., police received a report of an open door at a home on Chestnut Road in Southold. The Brooklyn woman who reported the open door told police she had been house-sitting, left the door closed when she went out, and returned to find it open. Responding officers entered the residence and confirmed that “all was in order” within the home, and the house-sitter confirmed that evaluation after entering the residence behind the officers.
July 3 – Around 8:30 a.m., a North Road resident in Greenport West reported a “possible burglary.” A detective was notified, but no further information about the incident was available in the police report.
Around 2 p.m., police received a report of “youths jumping from the Goose Creek Bridge” in Southold. A responding officer made contact with the group and advised them not to jump off the bridge.
July 4 – Around 4 p.m., Christopher Battaglia, 34, of Southold was arrested at his residence and charged with allegedly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident near Middle Road and Carroll Ave., according to a police report.
Fireworks on a windy beach
In the span of 12 minutes, from 8:55 p.m. to 9:08 p.m., Southold police received fireworks complaints at six different locations between Peconic and Orient, according to police reports. At 9:29 p.m., police and Southold firefighters responded a report of brush fires in the dunes at Kenney’s Beach. First responders located “multiple small brush fires” actively burning in the dunes. A witness told police that “numerous unknown parties” had been lighting off fireworks on the beach and that “when the wind picked up, it appeared to spread embers around the area of the dunes,” sparking the fires. Southold firefighters extinguished them all, before re-inspecting the area and deeming it safe.
Just before midnight, a local hospital contacted police with a report of a victim of violence — a 30-year-old Southold man — in the emergency room. An investigation is ongoing, according to a report.
July 5 – Around 12:30 a.m., an East Moriches man reported to police that while driving north on Elijah’s Lane, a pickup truck passed his vehicle over the double yellow line and struck his mirror, before continuing northbound. There were no cameras in the area to capture the incident, according to a police report.
Around 1 a.m., police were called to Queen St. in Greenport West for a report of a dispute. Responding officers spoke to two men, a 29-year-old Manhattan man and a 30-year-old Northport man, who told police they had been “out drinking alcohol all day, and a disagreement happened.” The Northport man told police he wanted to leave to stay in a hotel, but the Manhattan man “would not let him.” The Manhattan man told police the Northport man was intoxicated and attempting to drive his car, and that he had to “physically restrain him” from getting behind the wheel. After speaking with responding officers, both men agreed to end the dispute and go back into their cottage for the rest of the evening.
Around 1:45 a.m., a patrol car on Main St. in Greenport observed a red pickup truck strike a white Accura suburban and attempt to flee northbound, “but stopped once observing” the patrol car, according to a police report. Following a traffic stop in which he allegedly performed poorly on field sobriety tests, Pablo Martinez Juarez, 40, of Greenport West, was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated.
‘Drunk’ patron hands out cash to randoms
Around 2 a.m., police were called to a Main St. restaurant in Greenport for a report of a dispute. Responding officers spoke with the restaurant manager, who told them that a 21-year-old Glen Head man who appeared to be intoxicated “began knocking over chairs within the restaurant [and] when told to leave began yelling at staff and handing out cash to random patrons.” When he was removed from the restaurant by staff, he allegedly “made a comment about ‘shooting up the place,’” according to a police report. The Glen Head man, who was detained and searched, was “apologetic for his behavior. The manager declined to press charges, but wanted the incident documented.
Flock off
Around 6: 30 a.m., patrol officers observed paint damage to flock cameras at the corners of Main St. and Knapp Place and Main St. and Shipyard Lane. The color of the paint matched in both locations, according to a police report, and in the latter case, a sign was attached to the camera pole, stating, “ITRACKU4$.” A detective was notified.
Around 8:30 a.m., a Southold police marine unit responded to a Nassau Point for a report of a Boston Whaler that had come unmoored during the storm overnight and was now beached on the southeast side of Robins Island. Seatow came and retrieved the boat, according to the report.
Around 9:30 a.m., police were called to a residence on Soundview Ave. in Southold, after the son of a resident allegedly threatened to pull a gun on a woman who had come to retrieve some of her son’s belongings from the home, as he had previously been living there. According to a police report, the woman who was picking up belongings was conversing “loudly” with the resident, and the resident’s son is alleged to have mistaken the loud conversation for an argument, prompting him to state he was “going to ‘Pull out. Ima Pull up,” – which the visiting woman took the statement to mean he was “going to pull out a gun.” The resident’s son, 27, denied making the statement. A police officer escorted the visiting woman as she retrieved some of her sons belongings, according to the report.
Greenport harassment arrest
Around 9:30 p.m., a Front St. business owner contacted police to report that a man with a history of harassment allegations against the owner and his employees was back at the restaurant “harassing him and his employees.” Responding officers located and arrested Keith Sweat, 43, of Greenport West. It’s the fifth time in less than a month that Sweat has turned up in Southold police reports, each time accused of harassing the Front St. restaurant owner, as well as the staff in some cases.
Around 1 a.m. on June 19, police were called to the parking lot of a waterfront restaurant at the end of Main Road in Greenport. The restaurant owner told police Sweat “approached his property line, at which point a verbal dispute ensured. The complainant told police Sweat “acted confrontational toward him and yelled, ‘You’re a f—ing p—-. Step over the property line and let’s solve this now. It’s only a matter of time I catch you off your property!”, according to a police report. A witness confirmed the incident as described to police. Sweat “denied threatening [the complainant] or intending to cause him harm.” During the interview, Sweat “appeared intoxicated,” according to a police report, and was advised not to operate his vehicle, which was parked nearby. He left the area on foot without further incident.
Later the same day, around 6 p.m., Sweat returned to the Front St. establishment owned by the original complainant, where, according to a police report, a woman described in various police reports as Sweat’s “girlfriend” and “wife” works. He was allegedly “visibly intoxicated and threatened the … owner again.” While the owner originally declined to press charges, he told police that evening that he will do so if Sweat’s behavior continues. (Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that the woman had been employed at the establishment “for years.” She had not. The Sun regrets the error.)
About a week earlier, on June 12, around 11:30 p.m., the same complainant had called police on Sweat. According to a police report, Sweat came into the complainant’s Front St. establishment and caused a disturbance, one of “numerous times [he has] caused problems” at the restaurant in recent weeks. A notice of trespass was signed against Sweat. About four hours later, Sweat called police to report “his wife passed out” in a car in the parking lot of same waterfront restaurant where Sweat allegedly called the complainant a slur last week.
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.
