Crime & Safety

Town Police: Man Accused In Road Rage Incident

Plus, a boating while intoxicated charge, and a man accused of punching a car at the Boardy Barn.

The following arrests were reported by the Southampton Town Police Department. A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Speonk

  • Jesse Balzarano, 23, of Port Jefferson Station, was arrested in Speonk on Aug. 25 on a drunken driving charge. Police said Balzarano was initially stopped for a headlight violation on Montauk Highway at around 8:25 p.m. He was charged with DWI, a misdemeanor, as well as moving from a lane unsafely, failure to keep right and less than one functioning headlight, all violations.
Quogue

  • Thomas LaMorte, 50, of Yonkers, was arrested in Quogue shortly after midnight on Aug. 26 on charges of DWI and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. Police said LaMorte refused to be taken into custody and had to be forcibly overpowered.
Quiogue

  • Police arrested an East Quogue man for allegedly injuring a fellow motorist in a road rage incident that occurred in Quiogue on August 23. According to police the 28-year-old  was driving on Montauk Highway at around 10:10 a.m. when he got into a confrontation with another motorist. At some point during the dispute, police said Mitchell threw a miniature baseball bat at the vehicle as it was passing him. The bat struck the other driver in the face, injuring his right eye, according to police. Southampton Town police caught up with Mitchell on Peter’s Lane in Quiogue and arrested him on a third-degree assault charge, a misdemeanor.
Hampton Bays

  • Frank Jackson, 50, of Hampton Bays, was arrested on Aug. 25 on a boating while intoxicated charge. Police said Jackson failed a sobriety test at a checkpoint in the Shinnecock Canal at around 4:45 p.m.
  • Lourdes Cardona-Acosta, 26, of Riverhead, was arrested on Lynn Avenue in Hampton Bays at around 4 a.m. on Aug. 24 and charged with DWI, a misdemeanor.
  • Renauld Frederick, 37, of Riverhead, was arrested on Aug. 22 in Hampton Bays on a charge of aggravated DWI, a misdemeanor. According to police Frederick was driving a 2010 Toyota Camry westbound on Montauk Highway when he collided with a parked car shortly after midnight.
  • Broney Gadman, 70, of Coram, was arrested in Hampton Bays at 1:16 a.m.  on Aug. 24 on a charge of DWI, a misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of an accident, a violation. Police said Gadman was heading westbound on Montauk Highway when he struck a parked vehicle and then fled. A witness to the crash followed Gadman and called police, who found him a short distance away. There were no injuries in the accident.  
  • Robert Mackey, 32, of Westhampton Beach, was arrested in Hampton Bays on Aug. 25. on a misdemeanor DWI charge. Police said Mackey was initially pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign.
  • Augustin Urbano-Rojas, 33, of Southampton, was arrested in Hampton Bays on Aug. 25 for DWI, a misdemeanor, at around 12:50 a.m.
  • On Aug. 25 at about 8 p.m., witnesses reported to a Southampton Town Police Officer that someone punched a car, denting it, in the parking lot along side the Boardy Barn. Police found Joseph Bertone, 24, of Ronkonkoma nearby. He was identified by a witness, and arrested on a charge of criminal mischief in the third degree, a felony.Held overnight, he was released on $250 bail the next day. According to police, the vehicle belonged to an employee of a local store and Bertone did not know them. Police said it appears to be random.
Riverside

  • Paul Ciochetto, 44, of Riverside, was arrested in Riverside on Aug. 26 on a host of charges stemming from a single car crash he was involved in. Police said Ciochetto was driving a Toyota Yaris on Ludlam Avenue, near Flanders Road, when he crashed his vehicle shortly after midnight. Ciochetto managed to drive off from the accident, but town police caught up with him at his home in Riverside. Police said Ciochetto admitted to driving the vehicle but claimed he didn’t know he was in an accident. According to police Ciochetto appeared to be intoxicated. He was taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor DWI, as well as leaving the scene of an accident, unsafely changing lanes and failure to produce a license, all violations.
  • Jean Marc Choffel, 40, of New York, was arrested in Riverside on Aug. 20 on a charge of DWI, a misdemeanor.
Flanders

  • A 53-year-old Aquebogue woman was arrested in Flanders on Aug. 19 after she was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation and then wouldn't listen to officers. Police said they pulled her over on Flanders Road for reportedly using her cellphone without a hands free device at around 3:30 pm. They said they found her 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier was unregistered, had plates from another vehicle on it, and had no insurance. The woman disobeyed orders to stay near the car and began to walk away from the officers, police said. She allegedly threw garbage on the ground and when police attempted to place her under arrest, she resisted. Ultimately, she was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration in the second-degree, both misdemeanors, and violations including driving an unregistered vehicle, improper plates, driving an uninsured vehicle and prohibited use of a cell phone, and littering.

Find out what's happening in Westhampton-Hampton Bayswith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.