Crime & Safety
Crimes Nearby: Task Force Nabs Alleged Drug Dealer with 400 Grams of Cocaine
Also: Police say they have caught the driver who killed an Eastport woman and injured her friend earlier this month.
The following information was supplied by the East End Police Departments and Suffolk County District Attorney's office. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.
RIVERHEAD
• Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Faustino Juarez,the man arrested on major felony drug charges at his Flanders house on Friday, was an active drug dealer with an extensive criminal history.
The East End Drug Task Force found 400 grams of powdered cocaine, packaged heroin, and two handguns, one of them loaded, when they raided Juarez's house at 63 Riverside Avenue at 6:15 a.m. The Southampton Police Department’s Emergency Services team, along with task force detectives from participating East End police agencies and the County Sheriff’s K-9 unit, executed the search warrant.
• A 2013 black convertible Porsche 911, worth $130,000, was reported stolen from Cold Spring Court on Nov. 23 at about 6:15 a.m. The owner said he may have heard the engine start and his car being driven away, even though he had the keys. The theft may have been caught on video surveillance, and police are still investigating. No word on whether it is directly linked to the string of car thefts from Westhampton to East Hampton that were reported over the summer.
EAST HAMPTON
• James G. Sbardella, a 33-year-old homeless man who is wanted in Florida for violating his parole, was arrested after he tried to steal a car in East Hampton Village on Nov. 21, Village Police Chief Jerry Larsen said on Friday.
Police were called to 10 Buell Lane Extension just after 8 p.m., where a man was in the process of trying to steal a car. The man had already fled when police arrived, but responding officers, with the help of the town police, established a perimeter. They called in a canine unit from the Riverhead Town police and a helicopter from Suffolk County police aviation to help locate him.
The search dog tracked the man 69 Buell Lane Extension, where Sbardella was found hiding and taken into custody.
• Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Faustino Juarez,the man arrested on major felony drug charges at his Flanders house on Friday, was an active drug dealer with an extensive criminal history.
The East End Drug Task Force found 400 grams of powdered cocaine, packaged heroin, and two handguns, one of them loaded, when they raided Juarez's house at 63 Riverside Avenue at 6:15 a.m. The Southampton Police Department’s Emergency Services team, along with task force detectives from participating East End police agencies and the County Sheriff’s K-9 unit, executed the search warrant.
WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS
• Suffolk County police said a local man was behind the wheel of the car that struck and killed 27-year-old Erika Strebel, and seriously injured her friend, three weeks ago.
Vehicular Crime Unit detectives charged Peter Torrillo, 48, of Eastport, with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash, and leaving the scene of a serious injury incident, both felonies, on Monday. He will be held overnight at the Fourth Precinct and arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday.
• A 2013 black convertible Porsche 911, worth $130,000, was reported stolen from Cold Spring Court on Nov. 23 at about 6:15 a.m. The owner said he may have heard the engine start and his car being driven away, even though he had the keys. The theft may have been caught on video surveillance, and police are still investigating. No word on whether it is directly linked to the string of car thefts from Westhampton to East Hampton that were reported over the summer.
EAST HAMPTON
• James G. Sbardella, a 33-year-old homeless man who is wanted in Florida for violating his parole, was arrested after he tried to steal a car in East Hampton Village on Nov. 21, Village Police Chief Jerry Larsen said on Friday.
Police were called to 10 Buell Lane Extension just after 8 p.m., where a man was in the process of trying to steal a car. The man had already fled when police arrived, but responding officers, with the help of the town police, established a perimeter. They called in a canine unit from the Riverhead Town police and a helicopter from Suffolk County police aviation to help locate him.
The search dog tracked the man 69 Buell Lane Extension, where Sbardella was found hiding and taken into custody.
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