Cops: Craigslist Scam Attempted On Hampton Bays Seller

The following police incidents were reported this week by the Southampton Town Police Department west of the Shinnecock Canal.

Speonk

• Someone stole $1,900 worth of scaffolding from a construction site on Dock Road on two occasions sometime between Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. According to police, the self-employed contractor, who owns the scaffolding, called 911 at around 6 a.m. on Oct. 4 when he noticed two of his 32-foot scaffolding sections were missing. Earlier that week two 22-foot sections were also taken. When police spoke to neighbors one claimed to have heard ladders being moved in the early morning. Another neighbor gave a description of a truck that had pulled off the property.

Westhampton

• A landlord of a house on Montauk Highway claims her tenant, who was supposed to move out on Oct. 1, vandalized her home before he vacated the property two days late. According to the woman, who called 911 at around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, she went to the house to make sure he had moved out when she discovered someone had spilled paint all over the walls and floors. Police are attempting to contact the former tenant.

Remsenburg

• Someone broke into a vehicle parked in the driveway of a home on Clob Lane sometime between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27. Someone smashed the rear driver’s side window in a 1995 Volvo and stole an iPad, worth $400, sometime before Sept. 27.
• Two more air-conditioners were stolen in the Westhampton-Remsenburg-Quogue area this past week-thefts resulting in the loss of more than $11,000 in value. On October 2, Someone stole a Rheem air-conditioning unit from the property of a home on County Road 104 in East Quogue. According to police, the caretaker of the property called 911 at around 2:20 p.m. to report the missing unit, which was taken by cutting the copper connections and removing the metal frame. The air-conditioner was valued at around $7,800. Then on Oct. 4 an air conditioning condenser worth about $3,500 was stolen from a property on Bridle Path in Remsenberg. A handyman for the property noticed the A/C unit had been tampered with back on Sept. 13, but he assumed it was being serviced. When he returned on Oct. 4 at around 1 p.m. he noticed the unit was completely missing and notified the homeowner. Police are continuing to investigate this rash of thefts.

Hampton Bays

• Police are investigating why a car was left abandoned in the woods off Lynn Cliff Road on Sept. 29. According to police, a passing motorist called 911 at around 6 a.m. to report the vehicle sitting in the woods. When police arrived, they discovered the 1998 Honda Accord, but no driver in sight. Police were unable to get a current owner or address off the vehicle’s registration. The vehicle has been impounded.
• Someone hit a woman’s 2013 Toyota in the parking lot of Tide Runners on North Road and left without reporting it on the night of Sept. 30. According to police, the woman caught a ride home with a friend and left her vehicle in the parking lot. When she returned the next day, at 9 a.m., she said she noticed the front driver’s side quarter panel had been struck by another vehicle.
• Police are investigating another attempted Craigslist scam, this time in Hampton Bays on Sept. 30. A resident on Arbor Lane was selling an antique telephone on the popular website for $40 when he brokered a deal with a buyer who sent him $985 instead. When the buyer was contacted by the seller the buyer claimed it was a mistake from his assistant and asked the seller to send him the difference minus the telephone purchase. The seller grew suspicious and went to the bank with the buyer’s check, which the bank was able to determine was fraudulent. The seller reported the incident to police. Last week, a Flanders man was taken in the exact same way, for $545.
• Someone broke into the cabin of a 1995 Stiegler boat at Spellman’s Dock on Montauk Highway and stole more than $3,500 in valuables from the vessel. The owner filed a report on Sept. 29 at around 11:30 a.m. Police said the spare key, which was hidden in a cooler, was used to get into the cabin. Stolen was a Garmin Navi/Depth and Fish Finder, worth about $2,000, an Igloo cooler-seat combo worth about $150, $500 worth of fishing reels, multiple boat cushions worth about $800 and miscellaneous items valued at around $200.
• A woman claimed her house on Bittersweet Avenue was egged for the second time in a row on Oct. 6. The eggs hit the front door, the window and two vehicles that were parked in the driveway.
• Police responded to a physical altercation on Woodridge Road on Oct. 5 at around 4 a.m. Police received a 911 call from an intoxicated man who said his neighbor had driven onto his front lawn. The complainant said he approached the neighbor’s car and started to bang on the hood and doors. The driver of the car jumped out and started to push the complainant and then punched the complainant in the face. The complainant refused medical attention at the scene and refused to give an official statement.

• Someone stole a black checkbook from a Nissan pickup truck that was parked on a residential street in Riverhead sometime between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1.
• A friendly basketball game turned out to be anything but friendly at the Flanders Youth Center on Flanders Road on Oct. 5. A man called 911 at around 6 p.m. to report that he had been punched in the face by someone after the two got into a verbal dispute during a basketball game at the youth center. The victim received swelling to his left eye from the punch, but did not wish to press charges.
• A road rage incident on Flanders Boulevard got physical on the evening of Oct. 3. According to police, they received a 911 call from a woman who said she had gotten into a dispute with another woman at around 5:20 p.m. and the two women began spitting and pushing one another. Neither subject wished to press charges, police said.
• Two other women got into a fight on the corner of Albany Avenue and Grooves Drive on Oct. 3. According to police, one of the women called 911 at around 4:30 p.m. to report that she had initially gotten into a verbal altercation and then it turned physical. The woman suffered scratches to her chest, arms and face during the fight. However, neither party wished to press charges in the incident and no further action is being taken at this time.