Dan's Papers - October 31, 2008

Two men in Riverhead fired a shotgun in their basement toward the first floor. On the first floor of the house, children were present. Officers from the Southampton Town Patrol Division, along with detectives, responded to the scene. Two men were arrested in the incident and charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child, as well as unlawful discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported.

While on patrol in the Hampton Bays area, an officer observed a male subject placing a radio in a vehicle that was parked. When the officer approached the subject, he fled. The man was apprehended after a foot pursuit. Further investigation of the vehicle revealed other items inside and the officer later determined that everything had been stolen. Residents in the area had reported burglaries adjacent to where the vehicle was parked and said that the items in the vehicle were from their homes. After a further investigation, four other people were arrested in connection with the crimes. A tip of the hat to our boys in blue for rounding up some criminals.

Police received a report of a suspicious object that was located on top of a Southampton grocery store. The object appeared, to witnesses, to be some sort of bomb, as it could not be identified by those who saw it. The major concern, that the object was a homemade explosive device, caused a serious response by Southampton Town Police, who sent vehicles and bomb experts to the scene. It was later determined that the object was a used water purification cartridge.

A deli in East Hampton reported to police that somebody handed a cashier a fake $20 bill. Officers who investigated the incident couldn't figure out where the fake $20 came from. Police confiscated the funny money and still have an investigation open.

A man in Sag Harbor reported to police that he had become the victim of identity theft after he received a bill in the mail for over $3,000 from a credit card company. The man said that none of the charges on the bill were his and found both credit cards to have been opened out of state, one in Arizona and one in Connecticut.

A man in Sag Harbor reported that his 1994 Jaguar XJ8 was stolen from his home. Police found the vehicle the following day, but did not find the thief. Police suspect that somebody decided to take the Jaguar out for a joy ride. They are investigating the incident and will fingerprint the car for leads.

A man in Westhampton Beach drank a bit too much before he got into his car. In the early evening, the man crashed into a utility pole, ran over landscaping and crashed into a parked car. He then ran from the scene, but was caught by police who responded. He was charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident.