Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Southampton Cops Investigate Home Invasion

Also: Murder suspect arraigned in the death of Mattituck horse farm owner.

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

SOUTHAMPTON

• Town of Southampton Police detectives are still searching for the men they said took part in a frightening home invasion in North Sea last week.

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Police said it was just before midnight on Oct. 15 when two men barged into a home on Widener Lane carrying a revolver and a shotgun. The homeowner was in the house at the time of the robbery, according to the police report. Police said the two men grabbed $1,500 in cash from an envelope inside the home as well as the keys to a Ford vehicle, and then fled. The report did not indicate that the vehicle was taken.

Shortly after the men left, the victim called 911 to report the crime. Police canvassed the area with a K-9 unit and air support, but came up empty. Detectives responded to the scene and collected evidence after taking a statement from the homeowner. Calls to detectives for more information were not returned. A call to a phone number listed as the victim’s was not answered.

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• Luis F. Hernandez-Guzman, 19, of Roosevelt, was arrested on a felony charge after police said they found a forged Social Security card during a traffic stop on North Sea Road on Oct. 20 at approximately about 12:10 p.m. He was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree. 

RIVERHEAD

• A Riverhead man was arrested Wednesday after police said he was found to have crack cocaine, marijuana, and a gun in his car and resisted arrest.

According to Riverhead Town police, a report came in about loud music coming from a Doctors Path apartment. Officers and a K-9 unit responded; police said one officer located a parked car in the corner of the parking lot. A strong smell of marijuana was wafting from the car, police said; further investigation revealed a burnt marijuana cigarette in the car as well as one ounce of powdered and crack cocaine found on Willie E. Hopkins, 35, of Riverhead, police said. 

Also located in the glove box was a loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, police said. Police said Hopkins, who resisted arrest, was subdued; he was charged with six felony charges, including criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, and four charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He also was charged with three misdemeanor charges, including criminal use of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. He was also charged with marijuana possession, a violation, police said.

• James Bennett, Jr., 25, of Patchogue, was arrested in Flanders on Oct. 20 on a felony unlicensed operation charge and drunken driving. According to police, Bennett was driving a 2007 Chrysler on Flanders Road at around 5:30 a.m. when he was seen speeding and failing to maintain his lane. Bennett was stopped by police near Long Neck Boulevard. Police said they detected a strong odor of alcohol and that Bennett had slurred speech. Police also discovered Bennett was driving on a suspended license. He was arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a felony, second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, DWI, also a misdemeanor, moving lanes unsafely and speeding, both violations.

• An East Hampton woman was arrested Tuesday after police said she left her baby in the car and went shopping at Walmart in Riverhead. Police said the woman, 27,  left her baby in a 2008 Cadillac Escalade. When people who were parked in the next car heard the baby crying, they called authorities. Riverhead Town police said officers arrived at the scene at 1:27 p.m. and opened the doors of the car to give care to the baby.

"The car had gotten pretty warm in the sun," police said.

The mother emerged from the store and was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, police said. The infant was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center where it was determined to be "fine" and released to the care of a family member, police said.

NORTH FORK

• A man who police said shot and killed a well-known equestrian and Mattituck horse farm owner and fired his gun 11 times through the window of his home had been sending threatening texts for months and once unleashed his fury with a sword, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Spota announced the indictment of murder suspect Brett Knight, 45, arrested for the September 24 murder in Setauket of equestrian Ross Reisner. Knight, who was represented by Michael Brown, was arraigned on Wednesday in Suffolk County Criminal Court before Judge Richard Ambro and faces one count of murder in the second degree, a felony, one count of attempted murder in the second degree, a felony, one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a felony, and three counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Rafael Pearl asked that the defendant be held without bail; the judge agreed, but said Brown could submit an application for bail again in the future. If convicted, he faces 50 years to life in jail. After the arraignment, Spota painted a picture of a defendant whose life unraveled after he was fired from his high-level position at American Express.


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