More Charges for Springs Man

A Springs man who has an open case in the town court of Riverhead stemming from an alleged road-rage incident on Neck Path in Springs in December 2013 was back in court last Thursday, sort of, on a new charge of harassment.

Jefferson Davis Eames, 46, was to have been arraigned that day before East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana. Police say he harassed a man in April, spinning the wheels of his pickup truck in front of Kyle Cao’s house on Harbor View Drive, East Hampton, and in Mr. Cao’s gravel driveway, shooting stones toward the house.

Mr. Eames’s lawyer, Michael Griffith, objected to going forward with the arraignment on procedural grounds, saying that his client had not been served personally with an appearance ticket. According to a letter on file with the court, Mr. Griffiths also asked both Justice Rana and Justice Steven Tekulsky to recuse themselves from the matter, as they had done in the road-rage case, which was eventually assigned to Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith.

Mr. Griffith wrote to Justice Rana that because she had not given a written reason for her previous recusal, she should recuse herself again. Justice Rana agreed to allow the lawyer until July 10 to make a motion relative to the appearance ticket; she did not comment from the bench on the recusal question.

Mr. Eames is charged with reckless driving and reckless endangerment of property in the earlier case, which is scheduled for a hearing in Riverhead on July 27. He was arrested on Christmas Eve 2013. His alleged victim, Kate Grant, told town police he was driving a pickup truck with a trailer when he forced her Volkswagen off the road. Mr. Eames’s wife, Melissa Eames, a co-defendant in that case, was found guilty on June 1 in Riverhead of harassing Ms. Grant. She was fined $125.

The stakes for Mr. Eames would be much higher, as he faces two misdemeanor charges with the potential of up to a year in jail, along with a fine, if convicted. Mr. Griffith, calling Mr. Eames a victim of over-aggressive policing. said he would demand a trial by jury. He said the April charge was part of a “police cabal” against his client, citing the fact that Ms. Grant is the wife of an East Hampton Town police officer.

In other news, a Mastic Beach man originally from East Hampton, who told police he was addicted to heroin, has spent the last two weeks in county jail, unable to raise the $5,100 bail set for him after his June 12 arrest.

Kevin C. King, 34, is facing five misdemeanor charges. Town police, who say he stole a bag containing a gold necklace, a DVD player, and some other­ jewelry from outside a Briarcroft Drive, Springs, house, picked him up shortly after the theft was reported.

Besides petty larceny and possession of stolen property, he was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of several hypodermic needles, which he had concealed in a case hidden in his pants leg.

“I have lost my life to heroin and pills,” he said in a statement at police headquarters. “I need help.” He reportedly confessed to the theft.

Mr. King is due back in justice court next Thursday.