On August 21, a backyard sing-along turned into a surprise visit from Southold police to a home on Fishers Island. Officers responded to a 911 hang up call from a Clay Point Road residence where, upon arrival, they were met by a bemused 46-year-old homeowner. The man explained that he and his family had been enthusiastically singing the 2009 dance-pop anthem, “Fire Burning,” by Sean Kingston (pictured above in 2007).
According to the homeowner, the family was “belting out” the lyrics — specifically the infectious chorus, “Somebody call 911” — when a young child at the home grabbed a cell phone and did just that.
The incident was one of at least a dozen 911 call hang-ups police responded to last week that proved to be either accidental dials or children playing with their parents’ cell phones. As a policy, Southold Town Police respond in person to every 911 call, even when the caller calls back to apologize or say the call was made in error, according to Chief Steve Grattan.
Elsewhere last week, police chased reports ranging from a foul-mouthed scooter rider who vanished before his Shelter Island ferry docked in Greenport to a phantom seaplane, a missing passport and a suspected clam poacher who turned out to be a marine researcher, reseeding the clam beds. Two alleged drunk drivers were arrested, and alleged trespassers returned to a Greenport apartment despite warnings — and got cuffed.
On the morning of Aug. 18, Southold police received a report from the Shelter Island Police Dept. that man on a blue electric scooter, who had allegedly been “driving erratically and screaming profanities to other drivers on the road” was about to board the ferry to Greenport. Responding officers met the ferry when it arrived, but no one matching the description emerged from the boat.
On Aug. 18, a crew member on a yacht docked at Mitchell Park Marina reported to police that she lost her South African passport, and believes she may have thrown it out when she threw a Target shopping bag in a Southold dumpster.
On Aug. 18, an anonymous caller reported that a gray Subaru hatchback had possibly been involved in a motor vehicle accident in Orient with an animal. Police canvassed the area but were unable to locate the car.
On Aug. 19, police were dispatched to Corey Creek for a report of illegal clamming. Upon arrival, officers interviewed a Greenport West woman who presented valid copies of shellfish permitting. She told the police she worked for Cornell Cooperative and is involved in a clam reseeding project. No further actions were taken.
On Aug. 19, an 80-year-old Greenport West man reported being the victim of a fraud. He was contacted by an unknown individual who claimed to be from the payment service Zelle, saying the man was fraudulently charged more than $5,000. The caller urged the senior citizen, who checked his bank and determined he was not at a financial loss, to wire more than $2,300 to another individual to “cancel the transaction.” The man did, only to learn it had been a scam, according to a police report.
On Aug. 19, police responded to First St. in New Suffolk for a report of a seaplane on a beach there. Responding officers found no such plane, according to a report.
On Aug. 19, police received a report of a vehicle speeding through a Mattituck neighborhood near the corner of Pine St. and Horton Ave. Responding officers located the vehicle the followed it to a Pine St. address, where the 16-year-old unlicensed driver’s father told police he had let the teen drive his car to practice for an upcoming driving exam. He was advised that he cannot let his unlicensed son drive his car, and that the next time he’ll receive summonses.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 19, police received a report that the door of the Mitchell Park carousel in Greenport was slightly open. A responding officer tried without success to close the door, which remained about a foot open, according to a report. Efforts to reach the village for assistance were unsuccessful, according to a report. The overnight shift at the police dept. was advised to keep an eye on the popular park attraction until morning.
On Aug. 19, police responded to a Church Lane residence in Cutchogue, following reports of a female juvenile threatening to harm herself. The teen’s friend contacted police, who located the juvenile, who told police it was a “misunderstanding.” She said she got into a dispute over text with the friend, and ended one text with “If anything happens to me from here on out, it will be your fault.” The juvenile acknowledged to police that she did this to make her friend “feel bad and she had no intentions to harm herself. The friend arrived at the residence and told police that she might have “overreacted.” No further action was taken.
On Aug. 20, Glenn Falcone, 76, of Patchogue, was arrested for unlawful fleeing and reckless driving. A Southold woman had reported Falcone’s car speeding and passing cars across double yellow lines on North Road. Responding officers located the vehicle, allegedly speeding, and put on their lights and sirens, but Falcone continued to travel at a “high rate of speed,” according to a police report, “while committing numerous moving violations. According to police, Falcone had earlier been involved in a motor vehicle in Mattituck.
On Aug. 20, Stanley Lawrence, 57, of Greenport was arrested for trespassing, after a resident in a North St. apartment called police to say Lawrence was inside her apartment and wouldn’t leave. The woman had previously signed a notice of trespass, barring Lawrence from entering her residence. Two days later, the same resident reported three people in her apartment who wouldn’t leave, including George Pope, 28, of Riverhead, who was arrested for trespassing after previously having a notice of trespass signed against him.
On Aug. 21, an 80-year-old man at a North St. apartment contacted police to say Pope was intoxicated inside his apartment and refused to leave. Responding officers warned the Riverhead man that a notice of trespass was signed against him and that if he returned to the apartment he could be arrested. A day earlier, the same 80-year-old man contacted police for assistance in ejecting a 60-year-old Greenport man from his apartment. The 60-year-old left without incident, according to a police report.
Just before 3 a.m. on Aug. 24, Juan Cano Ramirez, 24, of East Marion, was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, after a report that a vehicle had struck a fence in a North St. parking lot and that the driver was asleep in the driver’s seat. Responding officers found Cano Ramirez awake in the driver’s seat, and performed field sobriety tests, on which — according to police —Cano Ramirez performed poorly.
On Aug. 24, police responded to a Middle Road location in Cutchogue. Upon arrival, responding officers interviewed a Smithtown man, 63, who claimed that a Cutchogue man, 61, had made a “false report that he stole baked goods” from the location. An investigation is ongoing, according to police.
On Aug. 24, Andrew Persson, 49, of Vermont, was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated, after being stopped for speeding on Middle Road in Peconic, according to 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.
