Blotter: Gunfire in Orient, a car vs. house crash and a dust up over guinea pigs

Between a report of semi-automatic gunfire in Orient, a man roaming the streets swinging a tree branch, a call about what looked like a shallow grave and a domestic dispute involving unwanted guinea pigs, Southold police had a busy week. The reports also included multiple arrests, a vehicle driven into a house, a disturbance at a library and an intruder found tucked away in a boiler room.

Jan. 19 – Around 9:30 a.m., Southold police stopped a vehicle that had been flagged for a suspended registration. The suspension was issued earlier this month due to a lack of insurance. Kathleen Smith, 69, of Cutchogue was issued a series of tickets.

Around 1:30 p.m., a Hillcrest Dr. resident in Orient called police to report hearing “multiple gunshots going off repeatedly” and that the shots “sounded like semi-automatic rifles.” A responding officer also heard the gunfire, and determined that it was most likely coming from an area between Narrow River Road and Route 25, somewhere east of Platt Road and west of Narrow River Road. The gunfire stopped, however, and the officer was ultimately unable to locate the source.

Around 5 p.m., a 30-year-old Southold man was walking near the corner of Colony Road and Bayview Ave. when he came across another man walking in the area and talking loudly. The Southold man was unable to determine if he was talking to himself or was on the phone. At that point, the loud talker picked up a tree branch and “began swinging the branch as he walked.” This spooked the Southold man, who broke into a jog before hearing the other man yell “you better run.” Police canvassed the area for the man with the branch but were unable to locate him.

Shortly after 7:30 p.m., Southold police arrested Noreen Bedell, 60, of Mattituck, on an alleged charge of driving while intoxicated, according to a police report. An officer was responding to a report from a restaurant in Mattituck Plaza that an intoxicated blonde woman had just left the bar without paying her tab when the officer encountered a nearby motor vehicle accident in which a car had struck a house.

According to the report, Bedell was traveling north on Factory Road when she allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign at Sound Avenue, continued northbound through a yard and collided with a residence near 11175 Sound Ave. (see main photo above). Police reported that Bedell was observed in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, attempting to leave the scene of the accident and spinning her wheels. She was found to be intoxicated and placed under arrest, according to the report.

The report states that Bedell was highly uncooperative following her arrest and that upon entering police headquarters, she allegedly kicked the arresting officer in the leg. While being processed, she continued to be belligerent and uncooperative and at one point allegedly reached under the partition of the ID room, grabbed the wire of a computer mouse and snapped it. She was transported to a local hospital for evaluation, at which point she kicked the same officer in the leg again, according to the report.

A subsequent police report notes that a bartender at the restaurant told police that Bedell paid $50 of her $61.79 portion of a bill and then, irate and cursing, refused to pay the remaining balance before leaving the restaurant. An employee at the restaurant in Mattituck Plaza later told a reporter that Bedell returned to the restaurant and paid her tab. “It’s all good,” the employee said.

Jan. 20 – Around 7 a.m., Angel Gonzalez, 40, of Mattituck, turned himself in at police headquarters on an outstanding bench warrant for his arrest. He was processed and was schedule to be arraigned, according to a police report.

Around 11 a.m., the owner of a Southold physical therapy office contacted police seeking an investigation. He told police that on Jan. 18, he came to the office and “discovered an unknown subject within,” who “left without incident” when the owner confronted him. Then, two days later, the owner said the man returned to the office, “claiming he left an item behind and requested to retrieve” it. The owner denied the request, told the man not to return, and called police, according to a report.

Around 11:30 a.m., employees of a Greenport library called police to report an unknown man, likely in his 30s, who was yelling at and harassing library customers, according to a report. A witness, 71, told police she accidentally touched the subject’s water bottle, “which caused him to become increasingly erratic, shouting obscenities at her.” Employees and the witness said the man, who was wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray hat, left before police arrived. Surveillance footage shows the man exiting the library and climbing into a white Volkswagen SUV, according to the report. Police were unable to observe registration information on the vehicle through security footage.

Jan. 21 – Around 8:30 a.m., an Orient resident reported to police that he was walking near Narrow River Road when he spotted what he believed to be a shallow grave off the roadway in the brush. A responding officer and a detective observed a “mound of dirt” with “small bones … nearby.” The state Dept. of Conservation was contacted and determined that the bones were animal bones and the mound of dirt was not, in fact, a grave.

Jan. 22 – Around 10:30 a.m., police and Southold firefighters responded to a report of a trailer fire near Wells Ave. in Southold. The man who reported the fire told police he had thrown his lit cigarette into the trailer, which sparked a fire of construction materials inside. Southold firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze.

Jan. 23 – Around 12:30 p.m., police responded to a call from the Orient-East Marion Parks District manager, who reported the unauthorized trimming of several bushes on park property on Main Road in Orient. The manager told police the parks district did not trim the bushes, and wanted the incident documented, “as this has been an ongoing issue involving a neighboring property owner allegedly attempting to gain an improved water view.” Police were unsuccessful in their initial attempts to contact the property owner, and determined that there were no surveillance cameras in the area that may have captured the bush trimmer in action.

Around 4 p.m., a homeowner on North Road in Southold contacted police to report a possible subject in his residence. Responding officers observed a white Volkswagen bearing Arizona plates, and an unlocked sliding door. Upon entering the residence, officers found Robert Mahoney, 49, of Bay Shore in the boiler room, and arrested him, according to a police report.

Around 5:30 p.m., a Greenport man reported that an unknown subject had taken $20 out of a car parked on Front St. A witness told police he saw a man, approximately 40 years old, acting suspiciously, but did not see him enter the vehicle. He provided camera footage of the incident, according to a police report, which showed a man wearing a gray sweatshirt, black pants, white shoes and a black backpack enter the vehicle. An investigation is ongoing.

Around 9:30 p.m., police received a call from a Mattituck man, 18. He told authorities that he was “dropping off his now ex-girlfriend … at her residence along with some guinea pigs.” He stated that he placed the guinea pigs on the front porch, but as he turned the leave, the young woman’s father, 53, came out of the house and “advised … that he does not want the guinea pigs.” A verbal dispute between the two men ensued, according to a report. The younger man told police that during the verbal dispute, the father grabbed the teen’s jacket and said, “You think you are a tough guy,” to which the teen allegedly replied, “I am tough.” According to a police report, “both parties appeared to be the aggressor and the incident was mutual combatants. Both men were advised to stay away from each other.”

Jan. 24 – Around 3:30 p.m., police received a report of a vehicle that had been parked near the corner of Moores Lane and New Suffolk Ave. in Cutchogue. Responding officers observed the vehicle in question to have “debris” on the front driver’s side door and window, and contacted the owner, a 63-year-old Mattituck hunter. The man told police that he hunts in Downs Creek and parks his vehicle where officers found it. He said that sometime between noon and 4 p.m., someone threw eggs at his parked vehicle and “placed cardboard with nails sticking up vertically” beneath the car’s tires. The man told police he “believes someone has an issue with him hunting in the area, and is messing with his vehicle,” and that he reported the incident to the state DEC as well.  

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.