It was one of those weeks on the North Fork when the police blotter reads like a dark comedy. There was a mysterious “bag of blood” discovered in the dunes near Pipes Cove, reports of gunshots on Lighthouse Road and a local man who allegedly menaced Greenport’s mayor and Village Hall staff with a broomstick. Officers chased phantom racing cars, investigated a door painted with a vulgar insult, responded to a vessel in distress that was actually in Rhode Island and broke up a fight between two women over a house phone. Police also responded in person last week to at least five accidentally-dialed 911 calls — a statistic that spikes during peak summer months. As a policy, Southold police respond in person to every 911 call, even those believed to have been made in error.
On Oct. 7, Roberto Bachez-Reyes, 43, with no known address, was arrested for criminal menacing after allegedly threatening Greenport’s mayor and Village Hall employees with a broomstick. According to a police report, the trouble began around 9 a.m. when police received a call from a village employee who said he was cleaning up the Adams St. parking lot in Greenport when Bachez-Reyes — who is known to police from numerous previous encounters — approached and said he wanted the empty cans being collected. The employee told him he could take them, but according to the report, Bachez-Reyes walked away empty-handed. About an hour later, the same employee called police back to report that Bachez-Reyes was now sweeping the parking lot himself. The employee advised him to stop and he left, according to a report. A few minutes later, Greenport’s mayor called police to say he was being threatened on the steps of Village Hall by a man wielding a broomstick and wearing a “Porters” hat and black jacket, later identified as Bachez-Reyes. According to the police report, Bachez-Reyes “waved a broom inches from him and threatened to hurt both [the mayor] and Village Hall employees.” While police were canvassing the area, the mayor called back to say that Bachez-Reyes was outside the Greenport IGA supermarket. Police located and arrested him after the mayor pressed charges for menacing.
Bachez-Reyes is among a group of men who congregate in the Adams St. parking lot (as well as Mitchell Park), drink alcohol and often cause chaos — menacing merchants, shoppers and restaurant patrons, urinating and defecating in the parking lot behind Front St. and often passing out, intoxicated, in Mitchell Park, according to numerous police reports and North Fork Sun interviews with merchants, residents, victims, police and local officials.
In May, Bachez-Reyes was arrested for allegedly brandishing a machete and threatening construction workers who were erecting a new fence between a private residence and a section of the Adams St. village parking lot where the men congregate. The fence had to be repaired after the men allegedly damaged it while drinking. Bachez-Reyes also threatened a local restaurant owner the same day as the machete incident, according to police reports.
On Oct. 6, a Fifth St. resident contacted police to say she believes someone stole her wallet from her car sometime between midnight and 5:47 a.m. the next morning. She told police she received a bank notification on her phone early that morning stating that a $234.26 credit transaction was attempted at 5:47 a.m. but was rejected. Police reviewed video surveillance, which, according to a report, showed that “one male subject did come up the driveway on his bicycle, but was never observed going toward said vehicle.” The woman was advised to contact police if she learns anything further about the incident.
On Oct. 6, police were called to a Main Road residence in Peconic to dispose of .22-caliber rounds that the resident acquired from a deceased relative, which were believed to be too old to use. The ammunition was secured, according to a police report.
On Oct. 6, police received an anonymous call about a landscaping truck heading westbound on Main Road near Factory Ave. in Mattituck, carrying a tree in the truck bed that was striking streetlights and wires. Police canvassed the area in search of the truck but were unsuccessful.
On Oct. 7, police received a call from a Greenport West woman who found what she described as a bag of blood in the beach grass near Pipes Cove, about 30 feet off the trail from the road. The resident brought the bag to the side of the road and described it to police as a kitchen garbage bag, about one-eighth full, containing what appeared to be meat or flesh, blood, and long brown hairs. A responding officer advised the woman that the bag contained deer meat, which was disposed of.
On Oct. 7, a Mattituck man reported what he believed were cars racing each other down Pike St. That morning, the caller said he observed a white Jeep Wrangler speeding eastbound in the westbound lane. He told police it was not the first time he’d seen the vehicle speeding down Pike St. A police report notes that the Jeep turned into Mattituck High School and that the three vehicles involved are all registered to Mattituck High School seniors. The most recent incident occurred during the MHS senior lunch period. All information was turned over to the school principal, according to a report.
On Oct. 7, Engell Leon-Garcia, 28, of Riverhead, was arrested by Southold police on an outstanding bench warrant.
On Oct. 7, a Southold teenager contacted police to report that he believed a white van was following his vehicle on Hummel Ave. in Southold. He then drove to police headquarters. He told police he was in his parked car on Hummel Ave. when the white van pulled in behind him. He said he got scared and drove away, and the van followed him. He was unable to get a license plate or further description but asked police to accompany him to his home to ensure the van was no longer there. The teen was advised to contact police if he sees the van again.
On Oct. 9, police responded to a structure fire at a home on Middle Road in Peconic. Upon arrival, the tenant told them she saw a fire start in the bedroom and extinguished it with a fire extinguisher. The source of the fire was determined to be a lit cigarette that fell onto a box of liquid soap and ignited, according to a report. Responding officers found the residence “extremely unsafe” to live in, given the amount of miscellaneous items and fire hazards. Police contacted the Southold Town fire marshal and building inspector, who determined the home was uninhabitable and notified the owner of the repairs required for it to be occupied again.
On Oct. 9, police received a request from Riverhead police to assist in responding to a report of a vessel in distress near Iron Pier Beach in Riverhead. Sea conditions prohibited Riverhead police from launching their boat, according to the report. A Southold police unit responded to the beach and canvassed the area without success. It turned out, according to a police report, that the vessel in distress was “in Rhode Island, not Riverhead.”
On Oct. 9, police responded to a report of a man sleeping on the sidewalk on Front St. in Greenport. A responding officer located the man, who said he would collect his belongings and leave without incident.
On Oct. 10, a First St. resident in Greenport contacted police about her neighbor’s son. The son, 50, had allegedly been “yelling and screaming” at his mother so loudly and so often that she eventually tried recording the commotion. The son “walked up to [the neighbor] and asked her what she was doing and began to argue with her,” according to a report. He then allegedly placed a door on his property and painted “F— you, b—-” on it, pointing toward her house. The neighbor said no threats were made against her and that she did not want the situation to escalate, given that the son was scheduled to leave “within the next few days.” She asked police to document the incident. The following day, the same neighbor reported more screaming next door. A responding officer interviewed the son, who told them he was “screaming at himself because he hates living in Greenport” and that he was packing his bags for a flight later that day.
On Oct. 10, police responded to an apartment complex on Main Bayview Road in Southold for a report of a physical altercation between two Southold women, ages 37 and 40. The argument began over the 40-year-old using the “house phone” at the complex. A shoving match led to a fight. Both parties admitted to the altercation and agreed to stay away from each other for the evening.
On Oct. 10, a manager at an arts center and movie theater on Front St. in Greenport reported an intoxicated woman “being loud” in one of the theaters. She was asked to leave and complied, according to a police report. During that time, a group of “youth subjects were running between theaters and making inappropriate statements about the appearance” of staff members. A theater manager later located a cell phone, which he believed belonged to the intoxicated woman. The phone was registered to a man and woman in Southold. Police made contact with the pair, and the phone was returned. No further action was taken.
On Oct. 11, p0lice responded to a report of gunshots on Lighthouse Road in Southold. A canvas of the area turned up nothing suspicious and no one in distress.
On Oct. 11, a Marys Road resident in Mattituck reported that someone had rummaged through her unlocked car overnight and stolen about $20. She was advised to lock her car overnight, and detectives were notified. Around the same time, a Farmveu Road resident reported that someone had rummaged through her unlocked car, stealing about $100. Later that morning, a Conklin Road resident in Mattituck reported that someone rummaged through her unlocked vehicle parked in her driveway and removed unspecified property. The third victim provided police with surveillance footage of the incident. An investigation is ongoing, according to police.
On Oct. 11, an employee of a business on Wiggins St. in Greenport reported seeing a Hampton Jitney bus driver stick his hand out the window and make a “gun motion,” and the caller feared the driver was trying to alert her to get help. Police made contact with the driver, who said there was no problem and that he was OK.
On Oct. 12, a 22-year-old Greenport woman contacted police to report that her sister was being assaulted by her husband. “It was determined” that the sister was in North Carolina. When police attempted to give the Greenport woman contact information for police in North Carolina, she “became uncooperative.” She told an officer who responded to her home that her sister’s husband was “joking” and there was no issue. No further action was taken.
On Oct. 13, police responded — along with the Greenport Fire Dept. and other local fire departments — to a report of a possible fire at a nursing home on County Road 48 in Greenport. With smoke in a portion of the building, a decision was made to temporarily move some of the residents to nearby facilities. Later, the New York State Dept. of Health ordered the relocation of all residents of the nursing home to nearby facilities. An investigation is ongoing.
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.
