News

POLICE BLOTTER Southampton Town

A Riverhead man was arrested early Saturday morning after leading police on a chase through Riverside in a stolen car and crashing it into an embankment and road sign.

Southampton Town Police said 30-year-old Patrick Earnest Gray was spotted driving the stolen car on County Road 94 in Riverside about 1:30 a.m. Mr. Gray tried to elude police, driving toward the Long Island Expressway, but hit an embankment and then a road sign near Pinehurst Boulevard in Calverton.

Just one hour before, the 1998 Chevy Suburban had been reported stolen from the Valero gas station on Peconic Avenue in Riverside after its owner left it running while he went into the market at the station, according to police.

Mr. Gray was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and unlawfully fleeing police. He was taken to police headquarters and held overnight for an appearance in Southampton Town Justice Court.

• A 30-year-old Riverside man reported being attacked by two armed suspects last Wednesday morning at about 6:48 a.m. behind Marta’s Deli on Riverleigh Avenue in Riverside.

The victim said he was walking behind the deli when he was approached by a man and a woman. The man knocked him to the ground, put a knife to his chest and forcibly removed $100 cash from him, according to police, who said the woman was armed with a pipe.

After taking the money, the couple fled into the woods behind the deli, police said.

• A Flanders man is facing a felony charge following his arrest Wednesday night, when he was found with a forged resident card and Social Security card, police said.

Police said 49-year-old Benigno Boch-Coc was observed walking along Flanders Road near Longneck Boulevard about 7 p.m., weaving in and out of traffic on the busy street. Upon questioning by an officer, Mr. Boch-Coc, who police said was “highly intoxicated,” was found to be in possession of forged identification papers, police said.

Mr. Boch-Coc was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument and disorderly conduct.

• Brandon Jones, 18, of Highview Drive in Calverton and Buddy Corr, 18, of Columbia Street in Hampton Bays were both charged with unlawful possession of marijuana March 30 on County Road 104 in Riverside.

• Benjamin Griffin, 54, who lives in the homeless sex offender trailer at the county jail in Riverside, was picked up on an arrest warrant Friday night on Center Drive in Riverside on a charge of second-degree harassment after being accused of making threatening phone calls to another person on April 9, according to police.

• Shelley Taylor, 36, of Wildwood Trail in Northampton was charged with driving while intoxicated after being pulled over for insufficient lights last Tuesday at about 11:34 p.m. on Bell Avenue in Flanders.

• A Northampton man reported that someone illegally used his debit card last Tuesday to make purchases on the Walmart website. The victim said he contacted his bank, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which canceled the card, and Walmart, which canceled the purchase, according to police.

• Two men were spotted in a surveillance video last Monday stealing folding tables from behind Wildwood Bowling Lanes in Northampton and loading them into a pickup truck on April 6.

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