Police & Courts

Eric Aboulafia, the Suffolk County assistant district attorney prosecuting Patchita Tennant on attempted murder charges, began his argument on Monday with a question to the jury: “What does it feel like to have these words aimed at you: ‘I’m going to kill you, then kill myself’?”   

An East Hampton man was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated last Thursday morning after his pickup truck hit a cement pillar, part of a small bridge on Old Stone Highway in Springs.     

As Patchita Tennant's trial on attempted murder charges began in Riverhead on Monday, six witnesses took the stand for the prosecution, including the Southampton Town police dispatcher who answered the victim's 911 call after the shooting.

Sag Harbor Village police this week investigated a threat of violence that was said to have been made by a Pierson Middle and High School student, ultimately finding it to be without credibility

Lisa Rooney appeared briefly before the new judge assigned to her fatal drunken driving case in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead on Friday morning. 

East Hampton Town police charged the manager of the Springs Tavern on Saturday with two misdemeanors, saying he had someone working as security, checking identifications, despite not having the proper license, and that alcoholic beverages were not properly stored.   

Another motorist reported an erratic driver heading west on Montauk Highway back on Feb. 11, leading to a drunken-driving arrest of a man previously convicted for the same offense.   

Randy Hoffman has a challenging time ahead, but he is buoyed by the good will of so many neighbors and colleagues. “People are really good,” he said, and “as soon as I can get back to working on the ambulance, I want to do that.” 

A transmitter was stolen on the morning of Feb. 24 while a worker was marking underground utilities on Baiting Hollow Road.

East Hampton Town police are investigating a single-vehicle crash that left a woman dead on Wednesday morning. 

East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana issued a split decision on Monday in the case of Colleen Moeller, the owner of the Petit Bleu children’s store in East Hampton Village who had been cited with two code violations for placing stuffed animals and a chalkboard at the entrance to her Park Place shop. 

The case against Joseph A. Grippo, accused of stabbing and beating Robert Casado with a pickax in Montauk’s Kirk Park last June, is likely headed for trial.     

Arrests were down in 2019, according to the East Hampton Town Police Department’s annual report, released on Monday. Over all, arrests were down sharply, to 607, from 809 in 2018, though calls for service were up slightly — 18,680 versus 18,079 the year before.     

After buying a new hot tub to replace an old one at her Guernsey Lane property, Barbara Zack noticed that someone had been using the new one over the last few months without her permission.

Patchita Tennant refuses a plea deal, insisting she shot her boyfriend in self-defense.

A 21-year-old man who East Hampton Town police said was driving drunk crashed a Cadillac into a utility pole early Saturday morning, breaking it in half.     

When Lisa Rooney appears in court next week she will do so in a different courtroom, before a different judge.     

Police said Justin Williams, 23, of Middle Island cased the houses while working in the area.     

Someone has been using a backyard grill on Laforest Lane while the owner is away, according to a report filed on Monday. The owner said he found the grill in a different condition than when he left it.

Three commercial fishermen returned safely to East Hampton last week after a scary morning at sea about 25 miles south of Fire Island.     

A Flanders man who confessed late last month to stealing trees from a Peconic Land Trust property in Northwest has been hit with more charges.

The owner of a 10,000-square-foot house at 145 Neck Path in Springs has agreed to pay a $32,000 fine to the Town of East Hampton after using the house last summer for parties.

A man in a small boat was found in Otter Pond on the afternoon of Feb. 4. Someone complained, but it was not clear to police whether it was illegal.

A Montauk man with a history of drunken driving was charged with two felonies last week after police found him driving drunk again, this time with his 12-year-old son in the car.     

The trial of the owner of the Petit Bleu children’s store in East Hampton Village, who was cited by code enforcement for placing two stuffed golden retrievers at the entrance to her shop, was held Monday in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

A 40-year-old man who stole a teenager’s bicycle in Sag Harbor Village on Feb. 3 was arrested later that day after he was seen riding it in Noyac.     

A 34-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a child over an almost two-year period was arrested last week. The victim, whose name has been withheld, gave a statement to detectives on Feb. 3.     

"Senior Pods" at the Suffolk County jail keep men 55-plus safe from "reckless youth," sheriff says.

The East Hampton Village Board approved the promotion of Jennifer Dunn, a police officer, to detective 3rd grade last Thursday.     

A former East Hampton Village gallery owner caused a scene at a screening of "Conscience Point," a documentary about the Shinnecock Indian Nation's decades-long battle for land preservation, at a restaurant in Sag Harbor Village Wednesday evening.