Police

Riverhead Blotter: DWI arrests, stolen merchandise and criminal trespass

Julio Lopez Argueta, 34, of Riverhead was arrested in Riverhead last Thursday evening for driving while intoxicated, according to town police.

Mr. Lopez Argueta was stopped on East Main Street around 6 p.m. for driving with no headlights or taillights. Police then found he was driving with five full Corona beers and seven empty bottles in the vehicle.

Mr. Lopez Argueta was arrested and transported to Riverhead Police Department headquarters, where he was processed and held, reports said. He was charged with two counts of DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor. 

• A Flanders man was arrested Saturday evening on West Main Street in Riverhead for DWI, according to reports. 

Police responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident around 8 p.m. Julio Lopez, 52, was seated in his vehicle with the engine running when police arrived at the scene. Police smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Reports said Mr. Lopez had watery, bloodshot eyes and performed poorly on sobriety tests.

Mr. Lopez was arrested and charged with DWI, violating an interlock device, a misdemeanor, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, also a misdemeanor. He reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.16%.

• Police are investigating a theft that occurred at the Riverhead Best Buy last Thursday evening, according to reports.

The store manager told police that two unknown males entered the store around 8 p.m. and removed a Nest-brand thermostat, valued at $249, without paying for it. One of the subjects, reports said, hid the item under his coat and fled the store in an unknown vehicle in an unknown direction.

• Two men were arrested Saturday afternoon for criminal trespassing on Sweezey Avenue in Riverhead, according to reports.

Jeycel Hernandez Valdez, 18, of Aquebogue and Wilmer Galarza-Munoz, 26, of Riverhead were arrested at 3:54 p.m. for trespassing on Long Island Rail Road property near Hamilton Avenue. Both were charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. Mr. Hernandez Valdez was charged with an additional violation for drinking alcohol in public. 

They are due back in court March 16, according to reports.

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 The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.