Teen Football Star Is Jailed

An East Hampton teenager spent six days in county jail last week after being arrested on a felony charge of criminal mischief.

Jordan A. Johnson, 17, a star player on East Hampton High School’s football team this past season, was charged by East Hampton Town police with the destruction of property. Under state law, if the charge is a felony, a minor’s identity is not cloaked, as it would be for a less serious offense.

Jordan, who was arrested on Jan. 26, allegedly became enraged when he could not use his mother’s car to go to school to take a test. He struck the car’s taillights with his fist, police said, then went inside the Tub Oarsman’s Road house and damaged items there as well.

Bail was set at $2,000, which was not posted, and he was taken to jail in Riverside. According to the warden’s office there, teens are kept apart from the jail’s general population.

Under state law, anyone charged with a felony and unable to post bail must be either released or indicted by a grand jury within five to six days, depending upon the circumstances. Mr. Johnson was released on Monday, with a future date in East Hampton Justice Court.

The name of another minor arrested on the same charge, but at the misdemeanor level, has been sealed by the police and the court. According to the redacted arrest report, that individual, also apparently a high school student here, drove a 2004 Dodge pickup onto the grass at Eddie Ecker State Park in Montauk “digging deep tire ruts and gouges in the grass.” The truck eventually flipped over onto its side. Its windows shattered and the flying glass damaged the turf even more.

The damage, however, did not exceed $250, the amount that crosses the bridge from misdemeanor to felony. The youth was later released without bail.