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Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: DWI Charged After Wrong-Way Head-On Crash

East Meadow man's Jeep rolled over after hitting a Volkswagen in Montauk on Sunday. Also on the East End, two men arrested in Riverhead after police say they fired off a shotgun recklessly, nearly hitting officers.

Editor's Note: The following information was supplied by East End police agencies. A criminal charge is an accusation and does not imply a conviction.

Recent crimes and arrests reported elsewhere on the East End:

East Hampton

• A drunken wrong-way driver rolled his sport utility vehicle onto its roof in the early morning hours on Sunday in Montauk, according to East Hampton Town police.

Detective Lt. Chris Anderson said James A. Vallar, 22, of East Meadow, was arrested on a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge after he struck a car on Route 27, between Upland Road and South Delphi Street, at about 5:20 a.m. The driver of a 2002 Volkswagen said a vehicle in front of her on the highway swerved, and she saw Vallar's 1996 Jeep heading toward her in her lane. She said she didn't remember what happened after that, Anderson said.

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Vallar and the driver of the Volkswagen were taken to Southampton Hospital. After he was treated, Vallar was released back into his police custody. He reportedly refused to take a breath test.

• A 44-year-old Hampton Bays man was arrested on drug charges on Aug. 6, after police pulled him over for what they said was an illegal U-turn on Montauk Highway, near Windmill Lane, in Amagansett. Stopped in a 1993 Ford, a strong odor of marijuana came from inside the vehicle and he seemed "extremely nervous," police said in a report. During a search, a small bag with a green leafy substance, which later tested positive for marijuana was found under the seat cover of the driver's seat. Under the floor mat of the driver's side floor mat, police said they found a spare fuse container that contained seven pink wax paper bags with a white powdery substance, which later tested positive for heroin. The defendant was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He was released on $750 bail.

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• A 22-year-old and a 24-year-old from East Hampton were arrested on cocaine charges in Montauk on Aug. 4, after police were called for a suspicious vehicle. A Nissan Altima had been parked in front of the Born Free Motel for a couple of hours and the people inside were reportedly drinking, police said. When police investigated, they said a smell of marijuana was coming from the car. A search found a blue-tinted clear plastic bag with a white powdery substance coming from the driver's side door. Another bag with similar powder was found in one of the defendant's wallets. Police said one of the men also had white powder around his nose. They were both charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, and they were released with appearance tickets.

• A 27-year-old Florida man allegedly drove drunk with a child in the car in Montauk this weekend, leading to a felony drunken driving arrest.

According to East Hampton Town police, they saw Patrick J. Dowd cross the double-yellow line twice on Flamingo Avenue, near Falcon Place, on Aug. 10 at about 8:30 p.m. He was stopped on Edgemere Street, and appeared intoxicated. Police said there were two passengers, a woman and her son, though police did not say how old he was. Dowd, who lives in Indiantown, Fla., failed all field sobriety tests. He was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child under Leandra's Law, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. He was released on $10,000 bail. His vehicle was impounded.

• Matthew P. Kopoulos, 21, of Wainscott, was arrested on a felony DWI charge and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, after an accident on Miller Lane East on Aug. 7. He told police that he was driving a 2009 Audi north when he swerved to avoid a deer, and hit a parked 1997 Isuzu at about 5:50 a.m. Police said he was intoxicated, and after he performed field sobriety tests he was told to put his hands behind his back. According to a report, he "started walking backwards with his hands clenched and flailing his arms refusing to be handcuffed." He then raised his fists toward the officers, but they were able to to take him into custody. Police found his privilege to operate a motor vehicle was revoked in February 2010 and that he had a prior DWI conviction in November 2010. Kopoulos was released on $5,000 bail.

• Raymond A. DeSalvo, 53, of Sag Harbor, was arrested on a drunken driving charge after an accident in East Hampton on July 24 when his car became stuck on a rock, police said this week. DeSalvo was driving a 2001 Cadillac when he tried to make a U-turn and ended up lodging his car on top of the rock in front of One Stop Market on Springs Fireplace Road, near Abraham's Path, at about 3:35 p.m. He was charged with misdemeanor DWI, held overnight, and released on $1,500 bail.


Southampton 

• Sandra C. Pomarico, 48, of Williston Park, was arrested Aug. 4 at 12:45 a.m. and charged with felony DWI.  Southampton Village police said they stopped Pomarico for failing to maintain her lane while driving a 2001 BMW westbound on Hill Street. A computer check revealed that she had a prior DWI conviction on July 14, 2006, according to police, which elevated the charge to a felony. She was also cited for refusing a breath test, police said. She was held for morning arraignment at Southampton Village Justice Court.

• A new fence on the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center and Museum grounds was spray-painted with vulgar graffiti overnight, museum staffers discovered Wednesday morning.

The stockade fence, which was installed in the spring at the entrance to the museum's new Wikun Village outdoor exhibition, was covered in black, red and silver paint. Symbols, acronyms, a racial slur and obscenities were drawn. Museum employees said the perpetrators broke into the museum’s shed and stole the spray paint cans.

New York State Trooper Carver, who refused to give his first name, said Wednesday at the scene that it was unclear whether one or more persons were responsible.  Investigators will determine whether the incident will be investigated as a hate crime, because of the nature of the graffiti, Carver said.

By Wednesday afternoon, staff members and volunteers had a power washer, scrub brushes and primer in hand to remove and conceal the spray paint before children and other museum guests had to see the obscene and racial graffiti.

Matauqus Tarrant, the museum's assistant curator and site manager, said they now plan to have a mural painted on the fence where the hateful language was sprayed. "We want to bring this full circle," he said.

• A Bridgehampton woman told Southampton Town police Aug. 10 that she dropped off her 11-year-old daughter at home and her daughter saw a man inside the house, who fled when the girl walked in. A laptop, an iPad and a canvas bag were taken from the home, according to the incident report.

Riverhead

• Two men were arrested in Riverhead Wednesday after police said they were caught firing a shotgun on Suffolk County parkland. Police officers narrowly missed being hit by the bullets, authorities said. According to Riverhead Town police, officers responded to a call Wednesday at 6:09 p.m. of gunshots being fired near Sound Avenue. Upon arrival, police searched the parkland near the place where the shots were reported in attempt to located the alleged gunmen.

During the search, several additional shots were fired "just missing the officers," according to a report, with the bullets whizzing into the park. Further investigation revealed that two men had been firing a shotgun behind a Sound Avenue home, police said.

An Aquebogue man, 22, and a Rocky Point man, 19, were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

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