Flanders man faces felony charges after East End Drug Task Force raid
A Flanders man who was previously charged in an East End Drug Task Force raid and recently released from jail on a separate weapons possession charge has been arrested again — this time on felony drug and weapons charges.
Members of the task force, along with a Riverhead Town police K-9 unit and Southampton Town Police Emergency Services, searched his home on Priscilla Avenue with a warrant Monday as part of “continuing drug sales investigations on the East End,” according to a press release.
Inside the home police allegedly found cocaine, marijuana, scales, packaging material, money and a .38 caliber handgun, police said. Eric Ross, a 24-year-old resident at the home, was arrested as part of the raid, officials said.
Authorities charged Mr. Ross with two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of drug paraphernalia and criminal possession of marijuana.
A second man was also arrested at the house for marijuana possession, a non-criminal violation, and issued a ticket with a future court date, the release states.
Mr. Ross was one of six people arrested two years ago when a pair of simultaneous task force raids targeted homes on Doctors Path and Union Avenue in Riverhead. Mr. Ross was charged with misdemeanor drugs possession at the Doctors Path location, police said at the time.
More recently in July, Mr. Ross faced a felony charge after he allegedly got into a dispute with a taxi driver and the cab’s occupants on Osborne Avenue and fired a gun while driving away, according to a police press release. No one was injured in the incident, police said.
Mr. Ross was charged with possession of a loaded weapon, a felony, reckless endangerment and aggravated unlicensed driving, according to authorities. Mr. Ross was released from county jail after posting $10,000 bail and is due back in Riverhead Town court on those charges next month, officials said.
Mr. Ross is currently being held in county jail on $25,000 bail related to his most recent charges, Southampton Town police said.
Photo: Eric Ross, 24, of Flanders in a July 2016 mugshot. (Credit: Riverhead Town Police Department)
