Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - Cowardly Threats Against Quogue Couple

What would you do if you walked up to your car and found a typed letter threatening your family and your safety? Call the police, right?

That is exactly what Quogue residents Samantha Dettmer and Jeffrey Cully did. Except that rather than going directly to the Quogue Village Police Department, the couple contacted the State Police.

In the past, Dettmer and Cully have made attempts to pursue a workforce housing project on their property on Montauk Highway. The couple worked extensively for almost a year to put the plan in motion. However, they encountered a few hurdles, and the proposal fell through. It had not been discussed since.

It is unclear why these threats were made. The first lines of the letter read, "This is your only warning! Do not pursue the workforce housing any further," suggesting to the couple that a Quogue Village employee could be behind these threats. After the State Police were contacted, Dettmer called lifelong friend and mayor of Quogue, George Motz, who immediately notified the Quogue Village Police. Chief of Police Robert Coughlan sent officers Michael Fruin and John Galvin to the scene.

"Because such serious threats were made, I viewed this as a very serious thing," Motz said. "I made sure that security and coverage were beefed up around their property. We're still keeping special watch until all of this gets cleared up."

Since his election six years ago, Motz has been a huge advocate of workforce housing. When Dettmer contacted him about the houses on her property that could be easily converted, Motz saw it as a perfect opportunity. By replacing those houses with two new ones, there would be no increase in density of the property. With urging from Motz and even the Department of Health, the couple continued to work on getting their proposal passed by the village. Once they reached a hurdle, they stopped pursuing and the issue was closed.

The next lines in the letter read, "You were warned about the real estate sign issues, but could not leave it alone. It would be a shame to have anything happen to your job, your family, or your old wooden buildings." The letter goes on to threaten the couple's attorneys, Stephen Steinberg and Joseph Attonito. While both attorneys have expressed concern for their own safety, right now they are just focusing on the wellbeing of their clients.

When the couple recently decided to put their house up for sale, they asked the village for special permission regarding the whereabouts of their "For Sale" sign. Normally, the village requires the sign to be a specific distance from the road, but in this case, they allowed the couple to place the sign elsewhere because of the tall hedges in front of the property.

According to Motz, Cully had asked to be placed on the village's agenda to discuss "sign and other items." As it turns out, a short time before the threats appeared on Dettmer's and Cully's cars, their "For Sale" sign had been stolen. The agenda, which took place this past Friday, was prepared to discuss the incidents on 107 Montauk Highway. Just one problem: Cully never showed up.

"I was hoping that Jeffrey and Samantha would be there," Motz said. "I think we were all hoping to get a better feel of the situation."

It is unfortunate that only time will tell us answers to the questions raised by the hate mail. Who wrote the threats, and why? Was the intent to cause controversy? Why were the State Police contacted before the Village Police?

Since the issue was made public, no new threats have been made to the family. Hopefully this is a sign that the mysterious author has given up, thanks to the increased security to the family, and public awareness of the incident.