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EAST HAMPTON VILLAGE — On New Year’s Day morning, shortly before dawn, Village Police received a report of a pickup truck being driven recklessly eastbound on Main Street. An officer who was dispatched to check out that report spotted a white Ford F-150 being driven on the wrong side of the road, headed toward Montauk, away from the village, police said. The officer activated lights and sirens, the police report reads, but the F-150 speeded away. Police put out a “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) request, and 20 minutes later an East Hampton Town officer spotted the vehicle pulled over on Montauk Highway on Napeague Stretch on the eastbound side of the road, besides which its driver, David Kenneth Cassell, 40, of Downington, Pennsylvania, was standing, according to police. Police said Cassell appeared disorientated, apparently under the influence of drugs. After interviewing and assessing his condition, the East Hampton Village officer involved, who had come to the scene as the officer who had witnessed the alleged crimes, placed him under arrest on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree and reckless driving, all misdemeanors. Cassell was also hit with six moving violations or infractions, including failing to comply with a police officer, running a red light, two charges of failure to keep right, and two charges of driving across roadway hazard markings. After his arrest, Cassell was transported by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for evaluation, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice court on Wednesday.
SPRINGS — A dispute between the residents of two neighboring properties in Springs resulted in the arrest of one of them, Richie Pizarro, 30, on Thursday afternoon. Police said that Pizarro was trespassing when he entered the gated neighboring property, and that he then committed criminal mischief in the fourth degree by knocking the cellphone of his neighbor out of his hands. The neighbor was trying to call police, according to the report, and Pizarro’s actions prevented him from doing so, which is a misdemeanor. Pizarro was held overnight and arraigned on Friday, when an order of protection was issued on the behalf of the neighbor.
AMAGANSETT — Town Police were called to a store on Amagansett Main Street to settle a dispute between the store’s management and a customer last Thursday. The customer was trying to return a toilet seat which he had purchased there, but management declined, the police report says, pointing out that the customer had opened the packaging on the toilet seat, making it unsalable. Management also pointed out to police the standing store policy that returns must be in the same condition as when they were sold. The management requested that the unhappy customer be asked to leave the store and warned not to return, with a trespass warning. It is not clear from the report, which is partly redacted, whether that was done or not.
AMAGANSETT — Police were called to a bar/restaurant on Amagansett Main Street on Friday evening to quell a bit of a disturbance. One of the customers had become intoxicated and began using profanities in front of children, causing the establishment’s management to ask him to leave the premises, police were told. When police arrived, the unruly customer was just leaving. Police interviewed both the customer and management, after which they warned the unruly customer that he was not welcome in the establishment and should not return.
MONTAUK — Police responded to a report of a suspicious person who had locked himself in a bathroom in a downtown Main Street business late Saturday morning. Also responding to the call were Montauk’s emergency medical technicians. The EMTs talked the man into coming out of the bathroom. He appeared disoriented and was taken to the hospital to be evaluated as a precautionary measure, given the frigid windy conditions at the time. It appeared that he had come by train from the city, and fallen asleep on the train, stranding him in Montauk in rather brutal cold conditions.
