Crimes Nearby: Middle Island Man Arrested in Fatal Hit-And-Run

Editor's note: Information is provided by police departments on the East End. A criminal charge does not imply a conviction.

RIVERHEAD

• An Amityville woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges this week after allegedly dumping two abused puppies in Riverhead.

One of the puppies has since died. "He had to be kept on intravenous fluids because he was too weak to eat, but, unfortunately, he did not survive," Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross said.

Swaneka P.J. Danzler, 21, the owner of the puppies, reportedly admitted to SPCA officers that she dumped the puppies at the Riverhead Animal Hospital on Dec. 18.  According to the SPCA, Danzler told officials that she believed the veterinary hospital was open 24/7 and that's why she left the dogs there.

• After a pedestrian was struck and killed in a hit-and-run on East Main Street in downtown Riverhead late last week, police said on Wednesday that a Middle Island man was driving the car that killed Brookhaven resident Scott Wayte on the night he was celebrating his 50th birthday.

Joseph D. Plummer, 48, was arrested on Wednesday after an investigation led to the location of the vehicle involved in the accident, a 1999 Saturn, police said; the vehicle was located at Plummer's address and seized as evidence.

Plummer surrendered to authorities and was charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident after a death, a felony under New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

• A couple leaving the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center was robbed at knifepoint on Saturday afternoon, police said.

According to Riverhead police, the robbery took place near the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center parking lot on Ostrander Avenue at 4:11 p.m.

The couple reported being robbed at knifepoint by a man who approached them on a bicycle as they walked from the aquarium north to the parking lot.

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS -  

Man Charged With 9 Felonies For Reportedly Using Employer's Accounts
• Jason Bergami, 37, of Center Moriches, was arrested by Southampton Town police on Dec. 21 on nine felony grand larceny counts and eight counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree after police said he used his employer’s account numbers to make several purchases, and proceeded to pawn the items he bought at various locations.

Police reports state that Bergami pawned the items on seven different occasions, in the course stealing from Riverhead Building Supply in Hampton Bays and Riverhead, as well as a Roanoke Avenue address in Riverhead.

Miller Place-Rocky Point 

A 34-year-old Rocky Point man was charged with a felony under Leandra’s Law on Friday after Southampton Town police said he struck a utility pole in Speonk head-on while his two-year-old was in the car. According to police, Timothy Shaw, who had a prior DWI conviction, was slapped with a second felony for DWI, as well as with charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor; open alcohol in a motor vehicle and several other traffic violations.