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Southampton Blotter: Mastic Beach man arrested on drug charges

A Mastic Beach man was arrested last Tuesday around 12:15 p.m. after he was spotted speeding on Moriches-Riverhead Road in Northampton, Southampton Town police said.

John Grippo, 42, was stopped by police and found to have cocaine on the driver’s seat floor and no required interlock device in his vehicle, police said.

Mr. Grippo was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, circumventing an interlock device, a misdemeanor, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license/registration, police said.

• A Riverhead man was arrested on Friday around 2:30 p.m. after fleeing the scene of an accident on Old Riverhead Road in Hampton Bays on April 11, police said.

Jose Miranda, 37, turned himself in at the Southampton Town Police Department, police said.

The accident occurred when Mr. Miranda rear-ended the car in front of him. He sustained no injuries, but a person in the other vehicle sustained a minor injury, police said. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident in which someone was injured and operating a motor vehicle without a license, police said.

• A Selden man was arrested on Saturday around 3:10 a.m. on Cross River Drive in Northampton after a car he was in was stopped on the shoulder of the road, police said.

Police noticed a bag of marijuana on the lap of the woman in the front-passenger seat. After searching the vehicle, police found crack cocaine and an additional bag of marijuana, according to a report.

Daniel Ayala, 19, claimed responsibility for the drugs, police said. He was arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, police said.

• A picnic table and two light fixtures under an awning at Ludlum Park in Riverside were damaged sometime during the overnight hours last Sunday into Monday, police said. No arrests have been made.

• A Craftsman lawn mower was reported stolen last Monday off the patio of a Dogwood Street home in Riverside.

• The front license plate of a woman’s car was reportedly stolen last Thursday between 6 and 9 p.m. at Suffolk Community College in Northampton, police said.

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 The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.