Crime & Safety

Traffic Stop Leads To Drug Arrests in Flanders

Also, several charged with driving drunk this week.

The following information was supplied by the Southampton Town Police Department. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

Flanders

• Police arrested two men who were parked “suspiciously” in a known drug area on Point Road on Oct. 13 at about 11:15 p.m. When police approached the 1997 Saturn and put a spotlight on it, the driver tried to flee, and was then pulled over near Short Road. Police had the driver, Jason L. Mitchell, 35, of Riverhead, step out of the car, and they said they saw crack cocaine on the driver’s seat , as well as on the passenger seat. They also found an additional quantity of crack cocaine and crack pipe on the front passenger floor. Mitchell and a passenger, Virgil L. Horsley, 47, of Mastic, were both charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

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• Kenneth R. Defriest, 66, of Flanders, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor DWI in the same hamlet on Oct. 11. Police said he failed to signal a turn in his 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck, and was pulled over on Flanders Road at about 5:35 p.m. He was also charged with improper use of signals, a violation.

• Luis A. Sura, 41, of Central Islip, was arrested on a drunken driving charge on Oct. 10. Police said he didn't maintain his lane and had a loud exhaust while driving on Flanders Road, near Cypress Avenue, at about 9:30 p.m. He appeared intoxicated and was arrested at about 10 p.m. He was charged with misdemeanor DWI and two traffic infractions.

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East Quogue

• Luis Michael Quercia, 48, of East Quogue, was arrested on a drunken driving charge on Oct. 9 at about 1:45 p.m. Police said he failed to maintain his lane of travel in a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee that he was driving on Head of Lots Road, near Shinnecock Road, at about 1:25 p.m. He was charged with misdemeanor DWI and moving from lane unsafely.

Hampton Bays

• A 34-year-old Hampton Bays man was arrested on a criminal contempt in the second degree charge on Oct. 9, just five days after being served with a stay-away order of protection. Police said he violated the order, but were not specific about what he allegedly did.

• Ricardo F. Bonilla, 34, of Riverhead, was arrested on a misdemeanor DWI charge in Hampton Bays on Oct. 11 at about 10:50 p.m. Police said Bonilla failed to maintain his lane of travel in his 1991 Mazda on Bellows Pond Road, near Montauk Highway, at about 10:30 p.m. He was also charged with two traffic infractions.

• Two men from Hampton Bays were arrested after police said they were racing each other in a town parking lot at 58 Dune Road on Sept. 29. The 22-year-old was driving a 1995 Nissan and the 23-year-old was driving a 1990 Nissan, both at high rates of speed, causing damage to the lot, at about 6 p.m., police said. They were charged with illegal speed contest as a first offense and unreasonable speed, both violations. The younger man was also charged with driving with a restricted license.

• A 26-year-old from Farmingville was arrested after he allegedly gave alcohol to a 20-year-old on Fanning Avenue, near Gravel Hill Road, on Oct. 11 at 10:15 p.m. Police said he was an acquaintance of the underaged drinker. He was charged with unlawfully dealing with a child in the first-degree, a misdemeanor, at 11:50 p.m. No other information was available.

• Carol Marie Friscia, 49, of Hampton Bays, was arrested on a drunken driving charge after police said they found her sitting in her car with an open pint of Heineken beer in her car in front of 31 East Montauk Highway on Oct. 10 at about 3:30 p.m. Police said her 2011 Cadillac Escalade was running. She was charged with misdemeanor DWI and consuming an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle at about 4:10 p.m.

Northampton

• Louis Marcello III, 43, of Farmingville, was arrested on several charges after police saw him parked behind the Wildwood Bowl on Lake Avenue on Oct. 13 at 4:50 p.m. As police approached the 2003 Chevrolet pickup truck, Marcello fled. He was stopped shortly after for failing to maintain his lane on Lakeview Drive, near Old Westhampton Road. Police said he appeared intoxicated and performed poorly on field sobriety tests. A 12-ounce bottle of Blue Point beer was found in the driver’s cup holder, police said. Crack cocaine was also allegedly found. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired by drugs, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, all misdemeanors, and an open container violation.

Riverside

• A 47-year-old Fort Walton, Fla., man was arrested twice on Oct. 11, which began when he allegedly assaulted a 36-year-old Manorville man at McDonald’s on Flanders Road. Police said Gilmore punched the man in his forehead at about 9 a.m., causing contusions and an abrasion above the right eye and a laceration above the left eye that required four stitches. Gilmore was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, at 9:30 a.m. Police said they advised him he was no longer allowed at McDonald’s, but he went back there later that afternoon, around 3 p.m., to buy food. He was arrested, again, and charged with third-degree criminal trespass, also a misdemeanor. He is being held on $2,500 bail.

• Paul A. Becker, 49, of Rocky Point, was arrested on a drunken driving charge on Oct. 12 in Riverside. Police said he crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic in a 2009 Chevrolet pickup truck and swerved from shoulder to shoulder on Flanders Road at about 12:40 a.m. After they pulled him over, they found a small amount of marijuana in his vehicle. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, moving from lane unsafely, a violation, and unlawful possession of marijuana, also a violation.

• Miguel Angel Peralta-Recinos, 36, of Riverhead, was arrested on a misdemeanor DWI charge after he was pulled over on Peconic Avenue, near the traffic circle, on Oct. 13 at about 1:10 a.m. Police said he was speeding in a 1999 BMW. He allegedly failed roadside sobriety tests and was arrested at 1:20 a.m.


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