Southampton Blotter: Prostitute threatened man with box cutter

A Riverside woman said by police to be a prostitute was arrested Friday afternoon after threatening a man with a box cutter on Vail Avenue in Riverside, Southampton Town Police said.

A man told police that Vanessa Shaw, 48, of Lewis Road in Riverhead approached him with a box cutter “with intent to menace him” about 1 p.m. She then left the scene but was later located and arrested on Old Quogue Road, police said.
There were no injuries reported. Officials did not indicate what triggered the dispute.

Ms. Shaw, whose occupation is listed on a police report as “prostitute,” was charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

• A Flanders man was arrested Friday morning after he was found to be in possession of a forged permanent residence card, police said.

Eduardo Cruz, 23, was a passenger in a car that was stopped by police shortly after 10 a.m., after he was observed not wearing a safety belt.

He produced a Department of Homeland Security resident card bearing the name “Estuardo Cruz,” and, according to police, stated it wasn’t really his name. Police later learned that Mr. Cruz had bought a fraudulent government ID card in New York City

for $60 about a month ago. He was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony. He was also issued a violation for driving without a seat belt.

• A Calverton man reported being assaulted at a home on Woodroad Trail in Flanders Sunday night.

The man told investigators he was leaving a friend’s house when he was punched in the head and face by another man. The victim told police the suspect followed him outside and began punching him as he tried to get away, causing him to lose his balance on the steps and fall, cutting his right hand. The victim was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center and treated for multiple cuts and abrasions and a fractured nose.

The suspect is described as black male wearing a blue jacket, who had long hair in a pony tail and upside down triangles on his face, according to police.

• A Flanders man reported Friday that someone had entered his home on Port Street and tried to break open a safe, causing about $250 worth of damage to the safe but not getting it open, police said. The homeowner told officers he has many relatives and friends who stay at his home, according to police.

• An unknown amount of copper piping was reported stolen from the basement of a home on Point Road in Flanders last Tuesday. The theft was discovered by an oil company employee who was making a delivery, police said. A basement window was broken, and police said it hasn’t been determined if anything other than the copper was stolen.

• A Westhampton Beach man reported Friday morning that a driver in a white SUV cut him off while heading north on Center Drive in Riverside and caused a collision, then fled the scene, heading toward the traffic circle, police said. The man said the SUV sustained rear end damage in the collision.

• Timothy McCoy, 29, of Riverhead was taken into custody at the county jail in Riverside on a bench warrant for failing to appear in Southampton Town Justice Court on a prior criminal mischief charge, according to police. No other details were available.

Those who are named in police reports have not been convicted of any crime or violation. The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.