Woman Being Held After Giving Fake Name While Reporting a Death

A 23-year-old homeless woman has been held in the Suffolk County jail since her arrest last week. 

East Hampton Town police initially interviewed Gina Gallo on Feb. 24, after being called to a Sycamore Drive house in Springs, where they found the resident, Gerard Kucker, dead in bed.

Ms. Gallo reportedly said at the time that she was there as a cleaning woman, and that her name was Gina Lawson. Police later found that a warrant for her arrest had been issued two days before in county criminal court in Riverside, where the woman had failed on several occasions to appear in answer to charges including driving under the influence of drugs, petty larceny, and possession of a hypodermic needle.

County police brought her here last week to face the local charges of making a false report and false personation.

Town police asked why she had given them a fake name. “I was freaking out. It is not every day you wake up next to a dead guy,” she reportedly explained.

She is not suspected of any wrongdoing related to Mr. Kucker’s death. She was unable to post the $1,500 combined bail set at the town and county courts, and remained in jail as of yesterday morning.