Repeat Offender Arrested on Gun Charge

An East Hampton man with a history of arrests was indicted Monday on three felony weapons charges.

A grand jury in the Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverside indicted Melvin C. Smith, 48, on charges of possessing a .38-caliber handgun and 100 rounds of high-velocity ammunition that were discovered in his house on Morris Park Lane on April 16.

East Hampton Town police said they found the gun and ammunition during a routine search that was required in a plea deal Mr. Smith had reached with prosecutors to resolve an earlier assault arrest.

“My life is over,” Mr. Smith told an officer when he was confronted with the gun and bullets, according to his arrest report.

He will be arraigned on the felony charges Monday in criminal court in Riverside.

Mr. Smith’s last felony conviction was in 2012, for failing to notify police of an address change, which is required of sex offenders under state law.

Because of seven previous felony convictions, including one for rape and sodomy when he was 19, the most serious charge Mr. Smith faces, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, carries a 31/2-to-15-year mandatory sentence in state prison if he is convicted.

 

Beach Brawl

A group of friends began Saturday night around a bonfire at a beach party at Hither Hills State Park and ended up in a brawl, with two brothers under arrest on assault charges, and a third person with 20 stitches on his face.

State parks police spoke with the alleged victim, Thomas McCaffrey, 22, of Hauppauge, at Southampton Hospital. He told them that after the bonfire began to dwindle, the group bought several bags of firewood at the Montauk 7-Eleven, one of which he threw into the fire while still in its plastic wrapping.

This, according to Mr. McCaffrey’s statement and a witness whom police spoke with, enraged Sean M. Corliss, 22, of Centereach. Mr. Corliss kicked the bundle out of the fire, picked it up, and hurled it at Mr. McCaffrey, striking him in the face, police said.

Mr. Corliss’ brother, Chad, 23, also of Centereach, then rushed Mr. McCaffrey, police said, pinning him to the ground. “They started punching me in the head and in the face. My friends came over and got them off of me,” he told police. Mr. McCafrey was taken to the hospital by a woman who was also at the gathering.

Park police arrived at Hither Hills just before midnight, spoke to several people there, then arrested the brothers, who were arraigned Sunday morning in East Hampton Town Justice Court and each released on $300 bail.

Lauren Flanagan, 26, of Cutchogue was arrested in Sag Harbor late Saturday night. According to Sag Harbor Village police, they were called to the Corner Bar on Main Street for a reported disturbance. Once there, they found Ms. Flanagan, who was described by police as “highly intoxicated” and “highly uncooperative.”

When Jason A. Boeklen of Sag Harbor, who police said was her boyfriend, “returned to the scene, the defendant then became violent by throwing her cellphone while kicking and screaming.” She then, the police said, went to the middle of the street and refused to move.

When police tried to arrest her for disorderly conduct,  she refused to be handcuffed, they said. Eventually, she was placed in a police cruiser, where she repeatedly kicked the rear window of the squad car, damaging it, which resulted in two additional charges, both misdemeanors: criminal mischief and resisting arrest. She was released the next morning without bail.

Southampton Village police arrested Toni Rebecca Gray, 46, of Montauk on felony charges Monday alleging that she had forged two prescriptions for drugs. She was released from Southampton Village Justice Court after posting $500 bail.

A Springs man was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated early Sunday morning. East Hampton Town police said that Edwin M. Uzhca-Chafla was pulled over for driving a 2011 Toyota at 70 miles per hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone on Springs-Fireplace Road. Failing sobriety tests, he was taken to police headquarters, where his blood alcohol level was recorded at .16 of 1 percent, twice the legal limit, according to the police.

He was released on $300 bail. In addition to the drunken driving charges, he also was charged with driving an uninsured vehicle and driving without a license.