Police & Courts

Several recent accidents on local roads involved young drivers.

Tinder-dry conditions and spiking temperatures were only two of the challenges firefighters faced as they worked to extinguish a brushfire that burned some 20 to 25 acres of grasslands in Hither Hills State Park on Friday night and then rekindled on Saturday. Equally challenging was the fire’s difficult-to-reach location between Goff Point and the Walking Dunes, more than a mile from any paved road.

Randall Crater "saw the burgeoning popularity of crypto as a chance to get rich quick through an unscrupulous fraud scheme cloaked by flashy marketing tactics and outright lies," a federal prosecutor said Thursday in announcing Mr. Crater's conviction on charges of wire fraud and other illegal monetary transactions. His trial was held in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Update: A difficult-to-reach brushfire in state parkland between the Walking Dunes and Goff Point at the western edge of Hither Woods burned 20 to 25 acres of grassland Friday night, according to Montauk Fire Chief Scott Snow. At 1:25 p.m. Saturday, East Hampton emergency dispatch confirmed that the fire had reignited.

Sag Harbor police charged a woman with four drug-related misdemeanors after she was allegedly caught shoplifting at Love Shack Fancy, a Main Street shop, on the afternoon of July 11.

A photographer told police Saturday afternoon that he was being harassed by someone who also worked as a paparazzo. He felt “threatened and scared,” he said, claiming that the man was following his car to events to take his own photos. The accused man told police he was just another paparazzo doing his job.

High summer, with its attendant apocalyptic traffic and legion of flustered motorists, hit its stride this week as numerous vehicular accidents were logged by police. Victims included a tree, a deer, a utility pole, and a shopping cart.

Three motorists were charged this week with driving while intoxicated, all three charges first-offense misdemeanors.

Benjamin Z. Kitburi was already unconscious when he was pulled from the water shortly after 7:30 p.m. by three nearby surfers, according to East Hampton Town police.

Joseph Grippo of Montauk, facing a trial for murder, took a plea deal on Monday to first-degree manslaughter for the killing of Robert Casado three years ago. 

One hit-and-run collision was among this week's traffic accidents in Springs, East Hampton, and Montauk.

Three men from away and two residents were charged over the past week with driving while intoxicated.