A 30-year-old Greenport man was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital Monday evening after his SUV veered off Route 25 in Peconic, crossed the parking lot of Greenport Harbor Brewery and crashed through an overhead door, coming to rest inside the building, according to Southold Town police.
The crash occurred around 5:56 p.m. Monday evening, when Jarod Tramontana was driving westbound on Route 25 in a 2026 Toyota Highlander.
Tramontana told police he swerved to avoid another vehicle that had crossed into his lane. His SUV left the roadway, struck the support wires of a PSEG utility pole and continued through the brewery’s parking lot before slamming into the building.
The collision caused significant damage to the brewery’s interior and its contents, police said.
Southold Fire Department personnel transported Tramontana from the scene to a waiting Suffolk County police helicopter, which airlifted him to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The extent of those injuries was not immediately disclosed.
The Southold Town fire marshal and building inspector also responded to the scene. The crash remains under investigation. No charges have been filed, police said.
Blotter: A shirtless stroll, a dancing emergency and a mailbox meltdown
A woman in a dumpster, a man with a shirt-optional approach to November weather and a dancing senior whose Apple Watch mistook his moves for a medical emergency kept Southold Town police busy this week. Officers also investigated mysterious crates parachuting into Peconic Bay, mediated a $35 fare dispute involving an attempted barter and responded to a neighborhood showdown over a mailbox. And in Mattituck, police learned that the screams coming from a late-night bonfire were apparently just teenagers having a good time. The department responded to 55 incidents last week, and here are some of the highlights.
Nov. 2 – Around 10:15 a.m., police received a report of a shirtless man walking on Main Road in Cutchogue. A responding officer located and interviewed a fully dressed 33-year-old Cutchogue man, who “state[d] he was hot and took off his shirt briefly.”
Around 11:30 a.m., police were called to a restaurant on Main Road in Southold for a report of a woman in a dumpster behind the building. Police assisted a 49-year-old Southold woman out of the dumpster and “advised [her] to stay out of the dumpsters.”
Around noon, a patrol officer observed a vehicle with a suspended registration traveling eastbound on Bay Ave. in Mattituck. The officer initiated a traffic stop and found the driver, Paul Loewe, 52, of Bayport, to be intoxicated, according to a police report. Loewe was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated.
Around 4 p.m., police received a report of a man panhandling at a gas station on Main Road in Cutchogue. They interviewed a 33-year-old Cutchogue man and advised him that he couldn’t be asking patrons for money. He stated that he was asking for money to “get something to drink,” according to a police report, and said someone had given him a dollar. A responding officer offered to purchase whatever items the man needed, but he declined, saying he would use the dollar to purchase a cheaper item and that his mother was en route to pick him up.
Around 9:30 p.m., a Mattituck Parks District employee contacted police after observing a white SUV on park district cameras and hearing screaming. Responding officers spoke with a group of youths at a bonfire in a fire pit nearby. One of the teens told police the white SUV was his and that the “screaming was just for fun.” The teens agreed to extinguish the bonfire and go home.
Nov. 3 – Around 12:30 a.m., a Bay Ave. resident in Mattituck called police with a report of “a female screaming.” Police canvassed the neighborhood but were unable to locate anyone in distress. The caller told police she couldn’t say for sure exactly where the screaming was coming from.
Around 10 a.m., police received a call from a 64-year-old Mattituck man who reported that an American flag with a sign that read “86-47” was hanging over Breakwater Road. A responding officer noted in a report that the “flag was flying over the roadway but did not block the roadway, causing any hazards” and that the crane holding the flag was positioned on a homeowner’s lawn beside the roadway. Police spoke with the homeowner, who was “very cooperative” and said that he’d move the flag so that it didn’t hang over the roadway.
A rude awakening
Nov. 4 – A Main Road resident in Southold called police shortly before 7 a.m. to report that “she is woken up every morning around [6 a.m.] from the delivery trucks” at a nearby hardware store. The 71-year-old woman told police that she believed the backup alarm on the forklift was causing the early morning disturbances. The store owner spoke with police, saying he had no control over the delivery times and that the backup alarm on the forklift was required by law. He said he would contact the supplier to ask for the deliveries to be made later in the morning and that he would also attempt to lower the sound on the backup alarm.
Around 8 p.m., “a woman … who appeared to be in a state of distress (crying) was brought to the attention of the STPD,” according to a police report. Police went to the woman’s home in Greenport, and she told them that she wasn’t the person in the picture. Police now believe the image “may have been fabricated.”
The long arm of the lawn
Nov. 5 – Around 9 a.m., a Cutchogue woman called police to report possible illegal tree removal on a neighboring property on Alborn Lane. Responding officers found one tree being cut down and three others that had already been removed. The manager of the tree removal company told police the work was taking place outside the town’s 100-foot wetlands buffer. An officer measured the distance to the nearest affected tree and confirmed it was approximately 165 feet from the wetland boundary, beyond the jurisdiction of the Southold Town Trustees. The woman was dissatisfied with the findings, according to a report, but was advised that she could contact the state Department of Environmental Conservation about possible additional restrictions involving protected bat habitats and seasonal tree clearing.
Around 9:45 a.m., a 48-year-old Greenport woman was taken into custody at Southold Town Justice Court after allegedly violating the terms of her probation by being intoxicated, according to a police report. The woman, described as irate, was transported to a local hospital after complaining of feeling ill. Hospital staff evaluated her and determined she was fit for confinement. She was then taken to police headquarters for processing and held pending transport by Suffolk County sheriff’s deputies.
At about 10 a.m., police were notified about a 21-year-old Riverhead man trying to barter his way out of a $35 transportation fare after being driven to a Mattituck address, according to a police report. The driver told police the man had agreed to pay $35 for the ride but refused to hand over the money upon arrival, instead offering various items in exchange. The driver declined the proposed trade, and the man eventually paid the fare. He then asked police for a ride to a Riverhead hospital so he could speak with a doctor. Officers transported him there without incident.
Around 10:30 a.m., police were called to a Greenport grocery store for a report of a man yelling at customers inside. According to a police report, it was the same 57-year-old Fort Salonga man who was the subject of four calls to police in three days last month for a variety of alleged infractions. An employee at the grocery store requested that the Fort Salonga man be trespassed, meaning he could be arrested if he returned to the location.
Parachutes over Peconic Bay
Around 12:30 p.m., a 31-year-old Mattituck resident called police to report seeing “parachutes holding crates falling from the sky, subsequently picked up by a boat in the water near Peconic Bay Blvd.” Southold police responded and advised that the incident was part of a National Guard drill being conducted in the area.
Nov. 6 – At about 4:30 p.m., an East Marion business owner contacted police after discovering that a check issued by his company had apparently been cashed twice, according to a police report. The owner told officers the $858.70 check was first cashed in April, then cashed again for the same amount in October. Unsure whether the duplicate payment was a mistake or intentional, he told police he wanted to document the incident.
Around 11:30 a.m., a Green Hill Lane resident told police that someone had broken into his home and stolen “a few bottles of liquor, cigars and two motorcycle helmets.” The man told police that his neighbor had video surveillance of the incident, but the neighbor was not immediately available to speak with police. A detective was notified, and an investigation is underway, according to a report.
Nov. 7 – Around 4 p.m., officers responded to the area of Mulford Court and Grandview Drive after a Greenport West man reported seeing a hunter who he believed lacked the proper permits. The 26-year-old Southold hunter emerged from the woods without incident and told police he had the required permits but wasn’t carrying them. The Greenport West man, who knew the hunter, confirmed that he had the proper paperwork.
Return to sender
Around 4:45 p.m., a dispute over a mailbox installation on Fleetwood Road in Cutchogue prompted a police response after a woman spotted a neighbor attempting to install a mailbox on what she claimed was her property, according to a report. The 75-year-old neighbor told officers the local post office had authorized the installation because the location was already a shared mail drop-off point for several residents. The woman and another neighbor confronted the man and demanded he stop, but he refused, prompting them to call 911. Officers advised both sides that the disagreement was a civil matter and referred them to Southold Town Hall to clarify the rules governing existing mailboxes and new installations. Both parties agreed to seek clarification and went their separate ways.
Around 7:30 p.m., police responded to a report of a white Ford truck that had crashed into a large tree near Edwards Lane and Main Road in Orient. The driver said he was not in need of medical attention, according to a police report. Field sobriety tests yielded negative results, though the truck was found to be uninsured, according to a report.
Boogie nights, emergency lights
Around 8:30 p.m., police headquarters received an “Apple Watch fall notification” pinging from a home on North Sea Dr. in Southold. Police were dispatched to the home after being unable to reach the watch owner by phone. The 70-year-old watch owner said that “he did not fall down, but a false alarm was accidentally triggered while he was dancing … Negative emergency,” according to a report.
At about 10:30 p.m., police were called to Peconic Dunes following a report of possible gunshots near a large gathering of local teens. Officers found numerous parked cars and a group of teens gathered around a bonfire in a nearby fire pit. A 17-year-old told police the gathering was just a get-together with classmates and that nobody was responsible for any gunshots that may have been heard in the area. The teens agreed to extinguish the fire, clean up their trash and call it a night.
Nov. 8 – Around 5 p.m., a report of an intruder at a Greenport West home turned out to be a case of crossed wires over a bicycle pickup, according to a police report. A neighbor called 911 after a woman reported that a man had entered her property on Tarpon Drive. Officers determined that the 65-year-old man had come to retrieve his bicycle following an incident two days earlier, when the two had agreed he would return for it the next day. Unable to make it as planned, he showed up two days later, causing confusion, a report said.
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.
