Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Pregnant Bookkeeper Gets 30 Days in Jail for Stealing

The following information was supplied by police departments on the East End. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

• A bookkeeper who admitted to stealing nearly half a million from an East Hampton family business will spend the next 30 days in jail, despite being in her last trimester of pregnancy.

Kerri Dewhirst said she was sorry for what she had done — embezzling a documented amount of $442,000 from Schenck Fuels Inc. during the two years she worked there. 

At her sentencing in Suffolk County Criminal Court on Wednesday, her attorney handed over a $60,000 check from his escrow account to begin the restitution process. Free on $250,000 bail since a grand jury indictment in May 2011, she was taken away to the county jail. 

As part of her plea arrangement, she agreed to pay $2,000 per month during five years of probation. If she misses even one payment, Judge James C. Hudson said he could revoke the agreement and re-sentence her to 5 to 15 years in prison.

RIVERHEAD

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• Riverhead police arrested a teen and charged him with a masked burglary at an apartment on Doctors Path Friday night.

On Tuesday, Riverhead police charged Jvon Creighton, 17, of Riverhead, with one count of burglary in the first degree, a felony. Creighton was also charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree and one count of false personation, both misdemeanors. Police said Creighton provided a false name at the time of his arrest and had in his possession a small quantity of oxycodone without a prescription.

The arrest followed a report on Friday night of masked intruders who allegedly forced their way into a woman's apartment and robbed her at gun and knifepoint, police said. However, no charges were filed regarding weapons possession, police said.

A second suspect is still being sought after the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the Riverhead police at 631-727-4500 or Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

• A Flanders man was charged with driving while intoxicated with an 8-year-old child in the car early Tuesday morning. According to Southampton Town police, on Tuesday at approximately 12:10 a.m., Flanders resident Cristobal Espinoza, 32, was arrested and charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated Leandra's Law, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

SOUTHAMPTON

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• Nakai N. Bess, 27, of Southampton, who is out of prison on parole, was arrested Dec. 19 at 4:02 p.m., four days after police say he led officers on a high speed chase.

Police said that on Dec. 15 at 1:58 a.m., Bess was driving 70 miles per hour in a 1998 Honda Civic eastbound on Hill Street, a 25-mile-per-hour zone.

"When police attempted to stop Mr. Bess, he refused and led police on a pursuit for approximately 12 minutes breaking numerous vehicle and traffic laws as well as endangering public safety," stated Det. Sgt. Herman Lamison in a press release. Police broke pursuit after identifying Bess as the driver, Lamison said.

Bess was charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree, reckless driving and reckless endangerment in the second degree, all misdemeanors, as well as violating his parole. Police said Bess was sent to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside to await a parole hearing.

According to state inmate records, Bess served two years and nine months at the Riverview Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in Ogdensburg, and was released on parole April 15, 2011. He was serving time for attempted conspiracy in the second degree, attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, all felonies, records state.

• A Manhattan man reported to Southampton Town police Dec. 31 that a total of nine Ferrari and Porsche rims, including some tires, were stolen from the garage of a Southampton home he owns and had rented out between May 2011 and May 2012. The rims and tires are valued at $11,000.

•  A Southampton man reported Jan. 5 that on Dec. 28 someone charged $2,000 on his Best Buy account at the Patchogue store. The man said he was alerted to the fraudulent charge when the creditor asked him if he would like to raise his credit limit.

NORTH FORK

• Graeme Baker, 21, of Orient, was arrested charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance on Jan. 5 at 2:26 a.m., following a traffic stop. Southold Town police said they stopped Baker for a traffic violation on Route 25 in Greenport and found him to be operating with a suspended license. During his arrest, Baker was also found to be in possession of two glass vials containing a white powder which tested positive as cocaine, police said. He was transported to police headquarters in Peconic, processed and released on bail for a later court date.

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