Crime & Safety

Police: Orient Man Shoots Gun at Construction Crew; Damages Vehicles

Southold Town Police charge an Orient man with reckless endangerment after he shot a rifle aimed at a construction crew Tuesday afternoon.

The following information was supplied by the . A criminal charge is only an accusation, and does not indicate convictions.

Donald F. Lechtrecker, 65, of Orient, was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on Tuesday at 4:06 p.m., afterresponded to a report of someone firing a rifle at construction workers at a job site on Stephenson Road in Orient, police said. Police located Lechtrecker to the rear of his residence, where he was found to be in possession of a Winchester 30/30 lever action rifle, police said. He was placed under arrest and transported to Southold Police headquarters for processing.

Further investigation revealed that he had discharged the rifle several times at five construction workers at a job site to the rear of the suspect's residence, police said. The construction workers were not injured during the incident, but their construction vehicles were damaged by the rifle fire. Lechtrecker may be charged for other offenses after a review of the incident by the Suffolk County District Attorney’ss Office, police said.

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