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Fourth Defendant Sentenced in Handbag Heist

Thu, 01/19/2023 - 10:17
Durell Godfrey

For her role in the March 2022 heist at the luxury retail store Balenciaga in East Hampton Village, Baseemah Davis of Newark, N.J., has been sentenced to two to six years in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced Tuesday.

“Each of the involved defendants arrested in this particular organized retail theft ring has now pleaded guilty and will serve significant sentences in state prison, which is a just consequence for their selfish and dangerous actions,” Mr. Tierney said in announcing the sentence.

Ms. Davis, 34, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. She was one of five people accused of stealing $94,000 worth of expensive handbags from Balenciaga, then leading police cars on a high-speed pursuit in a Dodge Durango that ended with a foot chase on the Long Island Expressway.

Three of the other thieves have already been sentenced on similar charges. Wazir Rodgers, 25, and Ali Harris, 29, both of Newark, were each sentenced to three to nine years in prison. Jamal Johns,

26, who had prior criminal convictions on his record for burglary, bail-jumping, and grand larceny, received a sentence of three and a half to seven years.

One other person involved in the theft, who allegedly was the one to distract the store’s sales clerk on the day of the heist, remains at large. Mr. Tierney said authorities are still searching for her. Her identity has not been revealed.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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