Nearly a year ago, on the eve of the Southampton Village election, a brown paper bag containing three envelopes, tissue boxes and a roll of toilet paper was dropped off at Village Hall — and just this month, at Mayor Jesse Warren’s direction, the envelopes were turned over to the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to the Village Police blotter.
Warren would not discuss the contents of the envelopes when reached on Wednesday, April 27, nor would he explain why he ordered them turned over to State Police rather than Village Police, the long delay and what about them he believes merits a criminal investigation.
“This is an ongoing police matter and I cannot comment,” Warren said. “I would [refer] you to the respective law enforcement agencies.”
Acting Village Police Chief Suzanne Hurteau, reached Friday, also would not comment on the matter or explain why it had been referred to State Police rather than her department.
A State Police spokesperson would only say on Friday, “The State Police are investigating this matter.”
The Village Police blotter states that on April 19 a Village Police detective retrieved the envelopes from the village clerk and transferred them to State Police and that Hurteau contacted the State Police to ask for an investigation at Warren’s request.
The blotter states that the envelopes had initially been delivered to Southampton Village Administrator Charlene Kagel-Betts in a brown paper bag, along with tissue boxes and a roll of toilet paper, on June 17, 2021.
Reached by phone earlier in the week, Kagel-Betts also offered little in the way of explanation about the envelopes, saying that because it was the subject of a police investigation she wasn’t at liberty to discuss the matter in detail.
She offered some insight into the original drop-off of the bag, stating that it had been left at a podium set up just outside Village Hall where a traffic control officer had been stationed to help control the flow of people in and out as a safety precaution because of the COVID pandemic. She said the bag had been dropped off at that podium after the traffic control officer’s shift was over, and that she was not at Village Hall during that drop-off but rather was out, with several other village officials, making final preparations on the eve of the election.
She said the identity of the person who dropped the bag off was unknown and had not been picked up by any security cameras. She declined to say any more about the bag or its contents.
Cailin Riley on Apr 29, 2022