A former Southold High School soccer player has been arrested and charged with possession of a loaded, 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, after police said they found the weapon inside a cooler during a traffic stop Monday afternoon near Bridge Lane in Cutchogue.
Joseph G. Worysz, 27, of Cutchogue was arrested July 14 and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Authorities said that around 3 p.m., he was pulled over for failing to maintain his lane, and that an open alcoholic beverage was spotted in the car’s center console. The weapon was discovered in a cooler on the passenger seat, police said.
It was not immediately clear whether Worysz has retained an attorney, and an individual who answered the door at his listed address (above) declined comment.
Worysz was previously charged in a pair of gas station heists in Calverton and Wainscott on New Year’s Day in 2017, later admitting to police that he and an accomplice had been high on drugs when they robbed the first gas station in Calverton, according to the East Hampton Star. On the way to Southampton to buy cigarettes following the early morning stickup, Worysz told police, they got lost and ended up in Wainscott — where they robbed a Speedway at gunpoint.
Each accused the other of holding the gun, which turned out to be a pellet gun. In 2018, Worysz pleaded guilty to one count of robbery. In 2020, he was charged with criminal possession of a stolen Yamaha dirt bike, according to the Suffolk Times, though the disposition of that case was not immediately clear.
Worysz, who graduated in 2016, was a star soccer player at Southold High School, according to Newsday.
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In the early morning hours of July 7, a Greenport West man reported that a group of unidentified men drove by his condominium near Crescent Beach and threw a plastic water bottle at his house, according to police. Around 3 p.m. the previous day, the complainant told police, he had observed the same group of 10 men “throwing alcoholic beverages at each other.” When the group realized he was observing them, the man reported to police, they threw an ‘Angry Orchard’ hard cider bottle at his house. Neither that beverage nor the water bottle caused damage to the home, he reported. Police canvassed the area for the group without success.
On July 7, a 66-year-old Cutchogue man was driving northbound on Pequash Ave. when another car swerved into his lane to avoid a jogger. He told police he waved at the driver and told him to slow down. At that point, he recognized the driver to be his neighbor, 61, whom he told police had been “physical with him in the past.” The neighbor then allegedly said, “Oh, it’s [expletive] you, get over here I want to talk to you.” The 66-year-old continued driving and later contacted police, seeking an order of protection against the neighbor. According to a police report, there were no documented incidents of past physical encounters between the two men, and the swerving incident was “not criminal in nature.” The complainant was advised to avoid contact with the neighbor.
On July 7, a resident at an apartment complex on North St. in Greenport contacted police to report a physical altercation between herself and Stanley Lawrence, 57, of Greenport. The woman, 27, reported that Lawrence had confronted her over money, and then attempted to grab her purse, which she eventually retrieved following a physical altercation in which she told police she and Lawrence “pushed each other.” Lawrence left without incident, and the woman signed a trespassing notice to prevent him from returning, according to authorities. Less than half an hour later, two Greenport teens contacted police to report that a man — later identified as Lawrence — who appeared “heavily intoxicated” approached them on the Third St. basketball court in Greenport and began yelling at them. According to a police report, the teens said Lawrence had a pocket knife in his pocket, which was never removed, but that he threatened them. Police canvassed the area, located Lawrence, and advised him to “stop harassing people,” according to a report.
On July 8, an East Marion man approached a patrol officer to report that he had just “had fireworks shot at his vehicle” by individuals in a black Jeep Cherokee. The man provided police with a license plate number and they tracked the plate to an address in East Marion. There they interviewed an adult and an unidentified teenager, who told police the man had been tailgating the Jeep, and he was simply trying to “get away” from the man’s car. He denied possessing or igniting fireworks.
On July 9, police arrested Engell Leon Garcia, 28, of Riverhead, at the Suffolk County jail in Yaphank on an outstanding warrant issued by the Southold Town Justice Court.
On July 9, a Mattituck man, 18, reported being harassed by another 18-year-old, also from Mattituck. The complainant told police he was fishing in Mattituck Creek near Naugles Drive when the second man drove past him on a boat and yelled at him. The second man allegedly docked his boat and drove to the first man’s location where a “verbal dispute” ensued over an unidentified “issue” the first man was having with the second man’s grandfather. The second man allegedly threatened to “fight” the first man “because [his] grandfather is too old.” The first man claimed he had nothing to do with the alleged dispute, but wanted the incident documented by police.
On July 10, a Southold man reported to police that an unknown and unoccupied vehicle was parked on his front lawn on Locust Lane. During an interview with a responding officer, the man “remembered that the vehicle belonged” to an employee of his nephew. No further action was taken.
On July 11, Robert Lehmann, 73, was arrested on an unidentified outstanding warrant, according to police.
On July 11, police responded to a report of an unidentified woman “wielding a samurai sword” near Strawberry Fields fairgrounds in Mattituck. Officers canvassed the area without success.
On July 11, Danielle Cordone, 49, of Mattituck was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated after police received a report that a vehicle failing to maintain its lane had pulled into a parking space in the King Kullen parking lot in Mattituck and struck another vehicle. A responding officer reported speaking with Cordone and noted that she “appeared confused and was unaware she struck a vehicle directly in front of her.” She was arrested after officials said she performed poorly on field sobriety tests.
A Greenport resident walking near Mitchell Park around 2 a.m. on July 12 reported hearing a bottle break on the ground behind him, and said that when he turned around he observed four men running eastbound on Front St.
On the evening of July 12, police received numerous reports about a tall man “preaching” on Main St. in front of Sweet Indulgences. Responding officers reported that the 31-year-old Philadelphia man was “preaching Christianity peacefully with a speaker and not blocking any pedestrian traffic.” The man told police he would “leave in an hour.”