Southold police were dispatched to a Main St. restaurant in Greenport on Sunday night after a caught-on-camera fistfight broke out in the kitchen between the general manager and the chef.
The dispute began just before 6 p.m., as the dinner rush was getting underway, according to a police report. Video from the restaurant, reviewed by police, apparently shows the general manager walk into the kitchen and over to the chef’s cooking station. He begins a verbal argument using “abusive language,” according to the report. The GM was “confrontational and aggressive and then went chest-to-chest” with the chef — before using both hands to push the chef “with force to his face.” Both staffers began to fight, before separating, police said.
Tensions cooled briefly, but moment later, the GM started a “second and aggressive” argument and again went chest-to-chest with the chef before allegedly slapping him in the face — prompting a second fistfight. When the pair eventually separated, the chef left the restaurant on foot, while the GM requested a ride to a nearby camper, which police provided. Upon arrival at the camper, the GM requested an ambulance and was taken to a local hospital for a cut under his right eye. While the chef declined to press charges, the GM told police he wanted to press charges, but according to a report, “was advised that since the video shows him starting the confrontation … he could not pursue charges.” Police notified the establishment’s owner of the incident and no further action was taken, according to a police report.
Elsewhere last week, police investigated a pair of theft reports on Peconic Bay Blvd. in Laurel, arrested a Greenport man for trespassing and responded to an alleged assault at a Southold gas station. Officers also issued a notice of trespass after a man walked into a restaurant and gave a flower to a 15-year-old employee, banned a Huntington man from a Mattituck CVS, charged an 83-year-old New Suffolk woman with DWI, removed an intoxicated patron from a Fishers Island country club and looked into a suspected hit-and-run involving a white Infiniti.
On the morning of Aug. 11, a Peconic Bay Blvd. resident in Laurel reported the theft of a white wooden Adirondack chair and an ottoman from the property. About an hour after that report, a second homeowner about a quarter mile away reported that a woman had entered her yard and tried to steal a metal wind spinner. The second homeowner told police the woman was driving a “beat up” burgundy Hyundai with a “large gash along the side of the vehicle.” Extra patrols have been requested for the area, according to police.
On Aug. 11, Robert Smith, 66, of Greenport was arrested for trespassing after a 3rd St. resident called police to report that Smith wouldn’t leave her residence. Responding officers determined that there was an active notice of trespass for Smith at the property, and placed him under arrest.
On Aug. 13, a Baiting Hollow man reported being struck in the face repeatedly by an unknown subject at a gas station on Middle Road in Southold. The victim said his alleged assailant almost struck him with his car, and when the victim confronted him, he was punched twice in the face with an open fist. Police are seeking video footage from the gas station’s cameras, according to a report.
On Aug. 15, a 15-year-old who was working at a 3rd St. restaurant in Greenport told police that a man came into the restaurant and gave her a flower. She told police she had seen the man before and that he often said hello to her. The man was later identified by police as Gustavo Estrada-Ramirez, 51, with no known address. A notice of trespass was signed against him, meaning that he could be arrested if he returns to the restaurant. Estrada-Ramirez was located by authorities at the 4th St. LIRR station, where he “stated that he didn’t know the juvenile was a juvenile, and apologized for the incident.” No futher action was taken.
On Aug. 15, a 72-year-old Huntington man was banned from a CVS in Mattituck after becoming upset that his prescription medication wasn’t ready, yelling at a young staffer, and then going behind a counter at the store to yell at another employee — who feared he was about to be attacked. The Huntington man was advised that a notice of trespass had been signed against him and he was no longer welcome at that store location, according to a police report.
On Aug. 15, Margaret Brown, 83, of New Suffolk was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, after being involved in a car accident on South Harbor Road in Southold.
On Aug. 15, staffers at a Fishers Island country club contacted police about a patron being “violent,” according to a police report. Responding officers found the female subject, 57, from Greenwich, CT. to be “highly intoxicated” and transported her to a local non-profit healthcare’s urgent care unit.
On Aug. 17, witnesses reported seeing a white Infinity back into a white Toyota Tacoma and then speed off. When police contacted the owner of the Inifinity, they were told the man’s daughter was using the car, and provided police with her cell phone number. A female subject who answered the phone was asked if she was the car owner’s daughter. “No, not really,” the woman replied, before becoming “agitated” and hanging up. Police contacted the vehicle owner again and advised him to have his daughter contact police.
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.