Crime & Safety
Crimes Nearby: Hit-and-run Suspect Arrested
Also among the week's crime news on the East End: alleged lottery scammers arrested; purse snatcher sought.
Editor's Note: Information was provided by police departments on the East End and the Suffolk district attorney's office. Arrests do not imply convictions.
Recent crimes reports from elsewhere on the East End:
RIVERHEAD
• On Tuesday at 8 p.m., Southampton Town police detectives arrested Jacqueline F. Celentano, 21, of Calverton for her alleged involvement in a hit-and-run accident that occurred Sunday in Flanders.
At approximately 12:51 a.m. Sunday, Aaron Hartman, 23, was walking home on County Road 105 when he was struck by a vehicle that left the scene, police said. He suffered serious physical injuries and was transported from Peconic Bay Medical Center to Stony Brook Hospital, where he is still hospitalized.
Detectives were able to identify the vehicle involved as a 2000 Chevy Impala, which was located at a residence in Riverside and subsequently impounded to police headquarters. Shortly thereafter, detectives identified, arrested and charged the driver of the vehicle. Celentano will be arraigned at Southampton Justice Court Wednesday on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident with physical injury, a felony.
• A trio of Riverhead residents charged with scamming a construction worker from the winnings of his $74,000 lottery ticket were arraigned on Tuesday in Central Islip. A grand jury has indicted three men suspected of swindling a Take Five lottery winner. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Yalcin Nergiz, 41, Yunis Ozturk, 33, and Orhan Ozurk, 47, all of Riverhead, appeared for arraignment before acting State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho in the First District Courthouse.
On Tuesday, all three men were charged with two counts of grand larceny in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the second degree, both felonies. The trio was also indicted on one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree, a felony.
Orhan Ozturk was also slapped with two counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a felony. Orhan Ozturk and Yunis Ozturk pleaded not guilty to all charges; Yunis is being held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail; Orhan’s bail is $10,000. Yalcin Nergiz's arraignment was adjourned to May 21 so that his attorney can appear, according to Bob Clifford, a spokesperson for Spota.
HAMPTON BAYS
• Josephine O’Brien, 48, of Hampton Bays, was arrested on May 4 and charged with theft of services, a felony, and petty larceny, a misdemeanor.
According to police, an investigation showed that O’Brien had used someone else’s credit card without permission multiple times to buy food from Francesca’s restaurant in Hampton Bays. O’Brien allegedly bought the food and canceled the transactions after she had obtained the food.
NORTH FORK
• A man stole a woman's purse in Greenport and took off running, police said.
According to Southold Town police, on Tuesday night at 12:42 a.m. a 22-year-old woman was walking home on Front Street when a man grabbed her purse.
The man, police said, took off running towards Fifth Street and was not seen again.
The purse was later found and the woman noticed that her wallet was missing, police said.
A K-9 unit searched the area and briefly picked up a scent of the purse snatcher, police said — though not enough to track him down.
