Criminal Charges Dropped | The East Hampton Star

An East Northport man was cleared of criminal charges in East Hampton Town Justice Court last Thursday. Peter Louis Zarcone, who was 36 when he was arrested in Montauk last summer, had been charged by East Hampton Town police with two instances of criminal mischief at the felony level.

However, the district attorney’s office took the unusual step last Thursday in East Hampton Town Justice Court of agreeing to a plea bargain that not only dropped the felonies but skipped charges at the misdemeanor level in exchange for Mr. Zarcone pleading guilty to disorderly conduct as a violation and doing 21 hours of community service. As a result, he will not have a criminal record.

Police had arrested Mr. Zarcone based on a video of an incident in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven on Main Street. According to Mr. Zarcone’s lawyer, Michael Helfer, a video on the same surveillance camera cleared his client of deliberately damaging another man’s car, which was at the heart of the allegations. “There was a surveillance tape that exonerated him,” Mr. Helfer said afterward.

Mr. Zarcone will be allowed to perform the 21 hours of community service near where he lives.

Long Days on the Fire Line In Orange County

East Hampton and Amagansett firefighters volunteered to head north last week to help fight a 5,000-acre wildfire in Orange County, N.Y., not once but twice, battling unfamiliar terrain to do so. “They fight fires completely differently than we do when we have a brush fire,” the Amagansett chief said.

Nov 21, 2024

Awards for Good Policing in Handgun Scuffle

“It could have gone worse. We’re lucky that I have officers here that weren’t shot,” said Police Chief Jeff Erickson at Friday’s East Hampton Village Board meeting. Chief Erickson was recognizing Sgt. Wayne Gauger and Officers John Clark and Robbie Greene for a traffic stop on Aug. 31 that turned into a scuffle and the eventual confiscation of an illegal gun.

Nov 21, 2024

On the Police Logs 11.21.24

A Three Mile Harbor Drive resident reported an online dating scam on the afternoon of Nov. 16. Somehow, said the 80-year-old man, a person on the dating platform had gotten his phone number and demanded $2,000 from him, threatening to tell his family he was using the site if he did not comply. Police told the man to block the number.

Nov 21, 2024

Head-On Collision on Route 27

A 2-year-old was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital following a head-on collision Saturday afternoon on State Route 27 near Upland Road in Montauk.

Nov 21, 2024

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