Crimes Nearby: Equipment, Copper Piping Stolen

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

James Gibbons, 60, of Houston, was arrested Friday at 12:43 p.m. on North Phillips Ave. in Speonk and charged with DWI, a misdemeanor. Gibbons was in a car accident, colliding with the Long Island Rail Road gate and a Ford pickup truck driven by an Eastport man, according to police. Upon investigation, police discovered Gibbons appeared intoxicated, officers said. An ambulance took him to for minor injuries.

A 34-year-old man from Hampton Bays told town police that sometime between 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 and 5 p.m. o Oct. 18 someone went into his work site on Suffolk Road in Hampton Bays and stole almost $5,000 worth of equipment, including saws, air guns, dehumidifiers and a safe. Town detectives are investigating.

A 62-year-old man from Hampton Bays told Town Police that sometime between Oct. 19 and Friday someone stole a 1979 white Ford van, which contained copper fittings and tools, from his Canoe Place Road property. The man told police that he thinks it was removed by a tow truck. Police are investigating but do not have any suspects or leads yet.

A 52-year-old builder from East Quogue told police that sometime between 2 p.m. Oct. 16 and 12:31 p.m. Oct. 19 someone kicked in the front door of a home he owns on Reeves Bay Trail and took copper piping from the basement, causing it to flood. Copper piping was also stolen from the first-floor bedroom, and the sheetrock in the room was destroyed as well, police said.

SOUTHAMPTON

John Dupee, 36, of Bridgehampton, was arrested Oct. 18 at 2:41 p.m. at the on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton and charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor. Dupee took groceries from the store without paying, police said.

A 39-year-old man from Sagaponack told town police Friday that sometime between Oct. 10 and Oct. 19, someone went into his Parsonage Lane home and stole two Apple iMac computers, worth $2,150 each. It appears that someone may have used a key under a doormat to enter the house, police said. There are also latent prints on the desk officers will investigate, according to town police.

A 49-year-old Southampton woman is seeking an order of protection against her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, according to town police. The Southampton woman told police Friday at 9:22 p.m. that her 36-year-old boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend has telephoned, texted and posted Facebook comments about her current relationship, according to police narrative. The ex-girlfriend, a 33-year-old Riverhead woman, has also threatened her and cursed at her. The woman is going to to seek the protective order, according to police documentation.

RIVERHEAD

Southampton Town police arrested a 38-year-old Riverhead woman and 41-year-old man from upstate New York on drug charges last week. Police said officers approached Tara Bennett and Brian Hambrick, who were parked on the corner of Flanders Road and Enterprise Zone Drive in Riverside on Oct. 18 at about 12:42 a.m. Bennett, the passenger, admitted to officers that she had a needle and crack cocaine with her, according to a police report. Police said they discovered that Hambrick, who is from Monroe, New York had crack in a glass pipe. Bennett was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a hypodermic needle, both misdemeanors. Police charged Hambrick with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

Christopher Dopkins, 48, of Mount Sinai was arrested and charged with DWI on Oct. 15, after he was allegedly caught driving a party bus while nearly three times the legal limit, according to police. Dopkins, who worked for Red Carpet Limousines, was driving a wine tour bus with 25 passengers on Sound Avenue when a man at his company called to speak to Dopkins. The Red Carpet official thought Dopkins sounded intoxicated and called police, said Lt. Robert Peeker.
Police also received a call from a witness who said the bus driver drove over a traffic sign, Peeker said. Police pulled Dopkins over in the parking lot of East Wind, where he blew a .21 blood alcohol content, police said. "[The passengers] were going out to have a good time so they could drink, but unfortunately he violated that trust," Peeker said. He added that no children were on the bus at the time. Dopkins was charged with Aggravated DWI, a felony, and held for arraignment.

A Riverhead man told police that two unknown men put him in a chokehold, stole money from his wallet, threw him to he ground and punched him in the head, according to a police report. The alleged victim told police he was walking on Segal Avenue in Riverhead when two men approached him and "asked him if he wanted to do business," according to a report. When the victim said no and began to walk away, he was grabbed from behind and put in a chokehold, police said. One of the men reached into the victim's pocket and took out his phone and wallet, emptying the wallet of about $348 dollars in cash. The two men then allegedly threw the victim to the ground and punched him in the head. The two suspects were allegedly last seen by the victim getting into a black vehicle occupied by two other unknown suspects, police said. The victim reported no injuries after the mugging, according to a police report. Police said they are still investigating the incident.

NORTH FORK

A former Shelter Island Justice and her husband are accused of grand larceny — allegedly stealing more than a million dollars from an 89-year-old Water Mill woman suffering from dementia — and the first day of the trial took place in Riverhead on Tuesday, according to a report from the Shelter Island Reporter.
Katherine Pope, who served as from 1998 to 2002, and her husband, Wayne, are alleged to have stole the money from the victim, Mary Abbot Estabrook, over a period of four years, according the the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Victor Guerra-Guzman, 28, of Mattituck, was charged with driving while intoxicated on Monday at 2:55 a.m. after police stopped him for a traffic violation on Route 25 in Mattituck, police said. Police also reported finding Guzman's license was suspended and charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was arrested and held overnight at police headquarters in Peconic pending arraignment.

A 51-year-old Flushing man was hospitalized after being involved in a car crash over the weekend, according to a report from
Michael Colardi was driving a 2003 Toyota west on Route 25 in front of the in Southold at 3:06 p.m. on Saturday when David Riddell, 34, of Southold pulled out of the bank parking lot in a 2006 Dodge in front of Colardi's vehicle, police said. Colardi then struck the driver's side of Riddell's vehicle.  He was taken by members of the to for treatment to injuries, police said.

Mark Lacy, 56, of Bayport, was charged with driving while intoxicated on Saturday at 10:27 p.m., after police stopped him for leaving the roadway and driving onto the grassy median on Route 48 in Southold, police said. Lacy, who was heading east, was found to be intoxicated after failing several roadside sobriety tests, police said. He was arrested and held overnight pending arraignment at Southold Town Police headquarters in Peconic.

Brant Ovsianik, 27 of Cutchogue, and Spencer Stewart, 31, of Riverhead, were charged with third-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny and third-degree criminal mischief on Friday after a police investigation revealed that the two men allegedly stole $40 from East End Auto Repair in Cutchogue and damaged several vehicles at the location, police said. The owner of the shop had reported to police earlier this week that someone had forced open a rear door of the shop and stolen the money, police said. The owner also reported that the suspects removed car batteries from eight vehicles and removed a car stereo, cutting wiring and causing more that $400 in damage, police said. Ovsianik and Stewart were located and found with the money and batteries, police said.