On The Beat: Riverhead

Riverhead Town Police said an employee of Glenwood Village stole a company truck Sunday night, September 23.

Terry Smith, 55, was allegedly spotted driving the truck on Middle Road in Riverhead at about 10 PM. Police, responding to a call from another employee, tracked the truck and saw it parked at 434 Middle Road, where Smith allegedly lives.

Smith, charged with one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree, a class D felony, was placed under arrest and transported to police headquarters and held for arraignment. During processing, police said they learned that Smith is currently on parole in New York State for a previous conviction of criminal possession of stolen property and was released from state prison last November.

Peconic River Save

A timely phone call saved a would-be drowning victim on September 19. A witness dialed 911 at 5:11 PM to say he had just seen a man fall into the Peconic River on the Riverhead Town side of Grangebel Park.

Luckily for the man, Riverhead Town Police Officer Richard Freeborn and NYS Trooper Michael Masino were in the vicinity and raced to the scene, and located the man floating face down near 57 West Main Street.

Freeborn and Masino rescued the man in distress and applied CPR and other life saving measures. Eventually the victim’s pulse returned and he began to breathe. Riverhead ambulance personnel arrived at the scene and transported him to Peconic
Bay Medical Center. He was kept
for observation.

A night earlier, police said a man entered Kmart on Route 58 with a clear mission: come out with a TV. Unfortunately, his plan didn’t include paying for it. Instead the man knocked a female employee to the ground and marched out the door. The employee was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center by Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps for treatment of a minor injury, according to police. The suspect escaped into the parking lot.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com