Crimes Nearby: Defendant Slips Away from Cops, Later Surrenders

EAST HAMPTON

• East Hampton Town police were searching for an 18-year-old man who fled from police custody in Springs on Thursday morning. Police said Justin Cruz had been arrested on a possession of stolen property charge on Cedar Drive at about 8 a.m. According to Detective Sgt. Chris Anderson, Cruz had been handcuffed and was put in the back of a squad car. Cruz was able to get his hands in front of his body and go through the window between the back of the police car and the front. He exited through an unlocked door and took off on foot.
He surrendered to police headquarters late Thursday night and has been additionally charged with escape in the third-degree, a misdemeanor. 

• Jose B. Maria-Jimenez, 24, of Springs, was arrested on drunken driving charges, including a felony charge due to a prior conviction and a misdemeanor aggravated charge for his alleged blood alcohol level, after an accident on Sept. 11 at about 8:30 p.m. When police arrived, they found his 1996 Nissan had hit a tree on West Drive, at the intersection of Morris Park Lane. Maria-Jimenez was standing next to the car. He told police he lost control as he was making a right hand turn onto West Drive. Justice Catherine A. Cahill set bail at $10,000 cash or $50,000 bond. He was turned over to the Suffolk County Sheriff's office, but released on Sept. 20.

RIVERHEAD

• A Flanders woman reported a burglary into her home on Wood Road Trail on Sept. 25., Southampton Town police said. The complainant told police that she was asleep in bed with her six-month-old baby when a man entered the bedroom and demanded money. The intruder, who has not yet been arrested, took $15 in cash, a cellphone charger and a Verizon router.

• A Flanders man reported being held up at knifepoint by two men in the backseat of a car on Evergreen Road on Sept. 29, Southampton Town Police said. According to a police report, the suspects stole $70 in cash. Police are searching for the perpetrators.

SOUTHAMPTON

• A 36-year-old Southampton man was drunk early Saturday when he crashed his vehicle into a tree then tried to hide the vehicle and walk off, according to police. It was the vehicle's OnStar system that tipped them off to the accident, police said. OnStar personnel called the Southampton Town Police Department to report an accident at Noyac and North Sea roads, with no response from the driver. When officers arrived on scene, the vehicle and the driver were nowhere to be found, cops said. However, Richard E. Depetris, of Southampton, was located walking nearby. Police said Depetris hid the vehicle in a driveway, but ultimately told officers where it was. "It was determined that he was intoxicated and he was placed under arrest," police said. Depetris was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of an accident, a violation.

• Alvaro Ramirez-Potrero, 40, of North Sea, was arrested Sept. 30 at 9:02 p.m. and charged with felony second-degree assault after Southampton Town police said he was involved in a dispute in North Sea with his ex-girlfriend's neighbor. According to the report, Ramirez-Potrero smashed the victim in the head with a glass beer bottle. Ramirez-Potrero was additionally charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor.

• Southampton Town police arrested a North Haven man on a gun possession charge after a 911 caller reported screaming early Saturday morning. Police said the call came from a neighbor, at 1:21 a.m.. The officer who responded to investigate heard screams coming from 48-year-old Conrad E. Sump's bedroom window — and spotted a loaded .45 caliber pistol on Sump's bed. Sump was directed to exit his house, and he did, police said. He was taken into custody without further incident. Police said Sump was alone, and they could not ascertain the reason for the screaming. He did not have a permit for the handgun, and was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor.

• A Sag Harbor man was arrested Friday morning in Southampton and charged with felony driving while intoxicated after being involved in a two-vehicle accident.
Southampton Town police said 48-year-old Heriberto Otero was driving a 1999 Dodge eastbound when he collided with a westbound 2002 Toyota that made a turn in front of him at around 8:30 a.m., at the intersection of County Road 39 and Montauk Highway.
In addition to felony DWI, Otero was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, a misdemeanor.

• Derry M. Taylor, 60, of Mastic, was arrested Sept. 28 at 6:05 p.m., and charged with felony DWI, due to having two prior DWI convictions, according to police. She was additionally charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, both misdemeanors.  Police said they stopped Taylor for driving a 2003 Ford Focus in an unsafe manner on North Sea Road. Taylor was with multiple prescriptions and an open bottle of whiskey, according to police. Her vehicle was impounded and she was processed and held for morning arraignment. She posted $2,700 bail and was released, police said.  

NORTH FORK

• Thomas Glasser, 48, of Peconic, resisted arrest and injured a Southold Town Police officer while doing so during a fight at the Valero gas station in Cutchogue on Sept. 30 at 3 a.m., police said. Glasser was reported to be highly intoxicated and was causing a disturbance before police arrived. When he was asked to leave he refused and fought with arresting officers, police said. Officer Richard Buonaiuto was injured during the arrest and was treated at Eastern Long Island Hospital.

• Alisa Siegell, 43, of Laurel, was charged with felony aggravated driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a child, and failing to maintain a lane of traffic on Sept. 30 at 7:44 p.m., after police observed the vehicle that Siegell was operating crossed over from the westbound lane into the eastbound lane, police said. Siegell was stopped and found to be intoxicated after failing several roadside sobriety tests, police said. In addition, Siegell’s 3-year-old daughter was in the vehicle with Siegell. Siegell was transported to police headquarters in Peconic and processed. Siegell’s vehicle was seized and towed to the police impound.