Crimes Nearby: Shinnecock Museum Vandalized

Southampton 

• Sandra C. Pomarico, 48, of Williston Park, was arrested Aug. 4 at 12:45 a.m. and charged with felony DWI.  Southampton Village police said they stopped Pomarico for failing to maintain her lane while driving a 2001 BMW westbound on Hill Street. A computer check revealed that she had a prior DWI conviction on July 14, 2006, according to police, which elevated the charge to a felony. She was also cited for refusing a breath test, police said. She was held for morning arraignment at Southampton Village Justice Court.

• A new fence on the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center and Museum grounds was spray-painted with vulgar graffiti overnight, museum staffers discovered Wednesday morning.

The stockade fence, which was installed in the spring at the entrance to the museum's new Wikun Village outdoor exhibition, was covered in black, red and silver paint. Symbols, acronyms, a racial slur and obscenities were drawn. Museum employees said the perpetrators broke into the museum’s shed and stole the spray paint cans.

New York State Trooper Carver, who refused to give his first name, said Wednesday at the scene that it was unclear whether one or more persons were responsible.  Investigators will determine whether the incident will be investigated as a hate crime, because of the nature of the graffiti, Carver said.

By Wednesday afternoon, staff members and volunteers had a power washer, scrub brushes and primer in hand to remove and conceal the spray paint before children and other museum guests had to see the obscene and racial graffiti.

Matauqus Tarrant, the museum's assistant curator and site manager, said they now plan to have a mural painted on the fence where the hateful language was sprayed. "We want to bring this full circle," he said.

Westhampton-Hampton Bays

• A white 2012 Mercedes was reported stolen on Oneck Road in Westhampton Beach Aug. 6 at 9:30 a.m. Village police said the car was parked in the driveway when it was stolen sometime on Aug. 5 after 11 p.m. The car was unlocked with the keys inside.  The car is one of 12 that have been stolen from East Hampton to West Hampton Dunes this summer.

Riverhead

• Two men were arrested in Riverhead Wednesday after police said they were caught firing a shotgun on Suffolk County parkland. Police officers narrowly missed being hit by the bullets, authorities said. According to Riverhead Town police, officers responded to a call Wednesday at 6:09 p.m. of gunshots being fired near Sound Avenue. Upon arrival, police searched the parkland near the place where the shots were reported in attempt to located the alleged gunmen.

During the search, several additional shots were fired "just missing the officers," according to a report, with the bullets whizzing into the park. Further investigation revealed that two men had been firing a shotgun behind a Sound Avenue home, police said.

An Aquebogue man, 22, and a Rocky Point man, 19, were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, a misdemeanor.