Crimes Nearby: Road Rage, Dispute at Gas Station

NORTH FORK

• Mark A. Culleton, 53, of Cutchogue, was charged with driving while intoxicated on Nov. 2 at 10:21 a.m., after he was involved in two motor vehicle crashes on Highland Road in Cutchogue, police said. He was found to be intoxicated and police also charged him with leaving the scene of an accident. Culleton was processed and held for arraignment, and his vehicle was impounded due to a prior DWI conviction, police said.

• Police said a Riverhead man was arrested Thursday evening after they said he got in a verbal dispute at the Hess Station on Route 25 in Mattituck, and proceeded to drive drunk.

Joseph A. Kess, 29, was arrested on misdemeanor DWI charges. Southold Police said he was seen driving his car in the parking lot of the gas station and following the dispute, was found to be intoxicated.

Police did not release information regarding the nature of the dispute, though across Long Island on Thursday, drivers raced to the pumps to pick up what gas was left as scores of stations across the Island remain without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

RIVERHEAD

• Three men wearing masks, one with a handgun, held up Barth's Drug Store on East Main Street in Riverhead Wednesday, police said. Riverhead Town Police said on Wednesday at 5:59 p.m., three suspects wearing masks, one armed with a handgun, entered the store and demanded cash and prescription drugs from employees.The three suspects then fled through the rear of the store with an unknown amount of proceeds. Police are asking anyone with information about the robbery to contact the Riverhead Police Detective Division at 631-727-4500. The robbery is the third in recent weeks during which suspects were armed and wearing masks. One robbery occurred at the Spirit Halloween store in October; held up a Valero in Riverside.

• A Wading River health care aide had been charged with stealing from the elderly client she was hired to care for. Southampton Town detectives arrested Tara E. Clark, 37, of Wading River on Oct. 26 and charged her with stealing over $1,000 from an elderly man living in Eastport that she was hired by his family to watch over. The investigation, spanning several months, revealed that Clark used the victim's personal bank card and bank account to obtain money to pay for personal expenditures including a tattoo parlor and nail salon, police said. Clark was charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree.

• A Riverside man seen conducting a drug deal attempted to swallow the narcotics when approached by authorities, police said. Southampton Town Police said on Friday, members of the East End Drug Task Force and Southampton Town police officers arrested Spencer Hobson, 45, of Vail Avenue in Riverside after authorities said they observed him conducting a drug transaction and trying to swallow the evidence when approached. Hobson was charged with three felony counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a misdemeanor, and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the second degree, a misdemeanor. Hobson was also charged with conspiracy in the second degree for his alleged involvement in a drug investigation that has since concluded.

• Road rage led to violence in Riverside when a woman hit an 80-year-old man with a tire iron, police said. Southampton Town Police said on Oct. 13, Rochelle Allen, 41, of Riverside was arrested by the Southampton Town Police detective division after she allegedly struck an 80-year-old man in the head with a tire iron after a road rage incident at Enterprise Drive in Riverside. Allen was charged with assault in the second degree, a felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a felony.

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

• Southampton Town Police are reporting that they slapped Alvaro Ramierz-Potrero, 40, of North Sea, with a felony charge in connection with an incident that occurred on Sep. 30 in Hampton Bays.

Police said that when they were called to an apartment on North Road they learned that Ramierz-Potrero allegedly hit a male victim with a beer bottle, causing the victim a laceration to the head, which required several stitches.
Ramirez-Potrero was taken into custody by patrol officers and charged with assault, a felony and criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

• On Oct. 27 Quogue Police say they charged Tia Booker, 31, of East Quogue, with aggravated DWI with children, a felony under Leandra's Law.

Police, who were on foot helping children cross Old Country Road during a Quogue Wildlife Refuge event, said they stopped Booker for having a headlight out. When she rolled down her window, police say a waft of marijuana smoke came out of the car. Booker, who had her two children in the car, a 12-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, was additionally charged with ability impaired by drugs; two counts of failing to restrain a child in a child seat; unlicensed operation of a vehicle; two counts of endangering the welfare of a child; and unlawful possession of marijuana.

SOUTHAMPTON

• Kourtney Hughes, 27, of Southampton, was arrested Nov. 2 on a felony charge of failure to register as a sex offender. Hughes was charged at 12:19 a.m. at Southampton Town police headquarters in Hampton Bays. According to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, Hughes was convicted in 2008 of having sex with a minor.

• A quantity of copper piping was reported stolen from several homes on Cold Spring Point Road in Southampton that suffered storm damage. Extra patrols in the area were requested by the complainant.

• Julian A. Mason, 32, of Greenwich, Conn., was arrested Oct. 24 at 1:38 a.m. and charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor. Southampton Village police said Mason was arrested after a call of a fight at the Southampton Publick House. Mason assaulted another man who had to be taken to Southampton Hospital for medical treatment, according to police. Mason was held for morning arraignment.

• Deena L. Colgan, 41, of Flanders, was arrested Oct. 27 at 2:24 a.m. and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree and criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument, both misdemeanors, according to Southampton Village police.