Police & Courts

Rainy conditions last Thursday morning at Montauk Airport were blamed after a small plane slid off the runway, through a chain-link fence, and across East Lake Drive, ultimately crashing into a wooden fence.

As part of a state-mandated review of police department practices, the East Hampton Town Board held a "listening session" last Thursday, seeking public input on ways to improve the relationship between residents and law enforcement.

Five volunteer fire departments responded to what was described as "a stubborn blaze" on Harbor Watch Court in Noyac Saturday afternoon.

Last week's Star had an account of an East Hampton woman who witnessed a man removing two signs from in front of her Town Lane house on Oct. 16. The man has since been arrested and charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor. He is Salvatore Ditroia, 67, of Southampton.

An Oct. 18 accident at the Clam Bar on Napeague ended in charges of drunken driving for a New York City man.

Outside East Hampton Town Justice Court last Thursday, friends and family members of David Peralta were seen and heard shouting words of support in Spanish.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. last Thursday, a Chevrolet pickup registered to the Deleg Brothers landscaping company, clipped the side-view mirror of a van parked by the side of Springs-Fireplace Road in Springs, in a construction zone.

A routine patrol on Ocean Avenue last week resulted in a wrist-slap for a Brooklyn man who was seen placing advertising material into mailboxes.

A single-vehicle crash Saturday night at the southbound curve of Hampton and Division Streets in Sag Harbor sent the driver and a passenger to the hospital with injuries and left a house at the crash site with a shocked resident and damage to its second floor. The incident has also spurred neighbors to lobby for traffic safety in that area.

"This case is not being handled any differently than any other case," Justice Tekulsky told David Peralta's supporters, some of whom have expressed confusion over the court process. Mr. Peralta is the victim of an alleged road rage attack in August.

A single-vehicle crash Saturday night at the southbound curve of Hampton and Division Streets in Sag Harbor sent the driver and a passenger to the hospital with injuries, and left a house at the crash site with a shocked resident and damage to its second floor.

The defendant reportedly took a "floral Coach wallet containing approximately $2,500 in cash and nine credit cards" on the evening of Aug. 24 from a house on Collins Avenue near North Main Street.

In Sag Harbor on Friday morning at the Highway Department, there appeared to be a botched robbery, said police. Several tools were reportedly removed from the Highway Department building, the gate to which was left unlocked and open, as were a number of Highway Department trucks in the parking lot.

The session on Thursday, Oct. 29, will be held virtually, starting at 6:30 p.m. Comments can be called in to 351-888-6331. The event will air live on LTV's Channel 22 and via a livestream at ltveh.org.

On Thursday afternoon, the Long Island Rail Road's 2:48 p.m. train from Montauk, due at Jamaica at 5:50 p.m., stalled just west of the Montauk station because of equipment trouble.

Joseph Serino of Manhattan, 66, was riding his bicycle on Toilsome Lane in East Hampton Saturday when he was struck by a 2005 Mercedes-Benz.

East Hampton Town police said that on Oct. 3, Henry Lupercio of Montauk slapped an unidentified woman in the face and mouth and punched her in the back of the head with a closed fist, in violation of an order of protection served against him last year.

A look at the police blotter for the week of Oct. 15.

Two traffic stops over the weekend ended badly for the drivers, both of whom were charged with driving while intoxicated.

Half a dozen youths on dirt bikes entered the fenced-off property of Bistrian Gravel on the evening of Sept. 23 and drove over newly planted hydro-seed grass, causing ruts costing $3,000 to $4,000 to repair.

Stephen Hand's Path saw its second accident in two weeks between a car mirror and a bicyclist on the morning of Sept. 23.

An attorney representing Charles Streep, the 31-year-old man accused in an alleged road rage assault in East Hampton in August, issued a statement last week asserting that his client was not the assailant but the victim in the incident, which left David Peralta of Springs, 18, with what his own lawyer says is permanent brain damage.

Driving without the required interlock device, which keeps a car's engine from turning over if it senses alcohol in the driver's system, was the charge on Sept. 27 against a Montauk woman.

A rally to support David Peralta, the 18-year-old from Springs who underwent emergency surgery after an alleged road rage attack in August in the parking lot of the Chase Bank in East Hampton, will be held at East Hampton Town Justice Court on Thursday at 9 a.m., and a GoFundMe campaign has been started to assist his family with medical expenses.

A single accident on the roads was reported last week, involving a car and a bicycle.

Two young East Hampton men were charged in recent weeks with driving while intoxicated.

Police arrived at CVS in East Hampton Village on Saturday evening in response to a complaint of over 100 people inside the store and 50 on the pharmacy line who were not socially distancing. Police did not observe any violations of state orders.

The homeowners selected from among more than 30 applicants across the county will be Anthony LaFountain and Cheyenne Banville, volunteer first responders with the Springs Fire Department. Mr. LaFountain and Ms. Banville live in Springs and work in East Hampton.

Wilkin Delossantos of the Bronx, 29, was charged in the Village of East Hampton this week with leaving the scene of an accident, as well as unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

​​​​​​​After watching her for a few hours on the night of Sept. 7, police said that "suspicious activity" caused them to stop Davis Eames of Neck Path in Springs on Route 27 near Old Montauk Highway in Amagansett, and to search the black fanny pack she was wearing around her waist.