Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Man Bilked Shelter Island Investors of $200K, D.A. Says

Also in the East End police logs recently, a sex offender is charged with failure to notify authorities he moved.

The following information was supplied by East End Police Departments and the Suffolk County district attorney's office. A criminal charge is only an accusation, and does not indicate convictions.

NORTH FORK

• Joseph Casertano, 49, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty on April 17 to three felony counts of third-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheming to defraud, after an investigation revealed that he had allegedly stole about $200,000 from several Shelter Island residents who thought Casertano would invest their money, police said. According to an indictment from Suffolk County Criminal Court, from Aug. 1, 2009 through April 4 of this year, Casertano obtained money from the residents by making agreements that their investments would be used to purchase various stock options. But a joint investigation between Shelter Island police and the Suffolk County district attorney’s office revealed that Casertano did not use the money to purchase stock; he allegedly used the funds to support his lifestyle, police said.

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• James Lawrence, 35, of Greenport, is facing a misdemeanor charge of third-degree criminal trespass after he reportedly looked into the first floor windows of several different houses on First Street in the village during the early morning hours of April 7, police said. Southold Town Justice Court issued an arrest warrant on April 19 for Lawrence, whose last known address is on Second Street in Greenport and who now has a lengthy criminal record of similar offenses, including public lewdness and burglary.

• James Reid, 32, of Hampton Bays, is a convicted sex offender who is now facing six felony charges under Megan’s Law after failing to notify authorities when he moved to Mattituck and then to Hampton Bays, police said. Reid appears on the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Sex Offender Registry as a Level 1 Sex Offender, and his address appears on the Sex Offender Registry as Kyle Road in Hampton Bays, police said. Early last December, police learned that Reid was living at an address located on Route 48 in Mattituck. After investigation, police learned that Reid had unregistered email accounts and had been accessing social networking sites on the Internet, including Facebook, police said. On or about March 1, Reid relocated to Shinnecock Road in Hampton Bays, again without reporting the move to authorities, police said. Reid had a previous conviction of failure to register in 2010, police said. He was arraigned on April 17 in Suffolk County Criminal Court.

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RIVERHEAD

• Damon Strong, 32, of Riverhead, was arrested April 9 at 4 a.m. and charged with drunk driving, a misdemeanor, on County Road 104 in Riverside. Police said Strong had been stalking his girlfriend throughout the day and had followed her to the New York State police barracks in Riverside, where he was handed over to town police for processing after he was observed to be driving while intoxicated. Strong was charged with failing to keep right and moving unsafely from a vehicle lane, both traffic violations, and additionally, circumventing an alcohol interlock device, a class-A misdemeanor, and fourth-degree stalking, a class-B misdemeanor.

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

• On April 8 Quogue police charged Boanerge Marin-Reyes, 30, of Westhampton Beach, with felony DWI after they stopped him for speeding, making an unsafe lane change and passing in a no passing zone on Old Country Road at 4:39 p.m. Police also charged Marin-Reyes with circumventing an interlock device and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

•  say they have found the culprits who damaged the public restrooms on Glovers Avenue on the evenings of April 9 and 10. According to police, three teens were nabbed after police viewed surveillance video and an officer recognized one of the teen's backpacks. Officers were able to locate the teen and obtain a confession, police said. Police said the teens have not yet been charged and restitution is an option.


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