Crimes Nearby: Westhampton Teacher Allegedly Hid Camera in Girls Locker Room

Westhampton-Hampton Bays

• New York State Police have charged a 27-year-old Westhampton Beach Middle School gym teacher with unlawful surveillance, a felony, after he allegedly hid a video camera in the girls locker room.

The teacher, Thomas Sheppard, of Speonk, was charged on Tuesday, after an investigation by Westhampton Beach and New York State detectives, which stemmed from allegations made by several students in the school district.

The allegations of teacher misconduct were made public on March 5 when Mike Radday, school superintendent, called Westhampton Beach police to report the incident that occurred in the girl's locker room.

• Westhampton Beach police seized a 2003 BMW under the Suffolk County seizure law on March 14 at 11:35 p.m. after the driver of the car was caught drinking and driving.

Police said they pulled over Robert Cunniff, 50, of East Moriches, who has a prior DWI conviction, on Montauk Highway after they spotted him swerving on Beach Lane.

Cunniff was charged with DWI, a felony, and driving an unregistered vehicle as well as making an unsafe lane change, both violations. He was released on $1,000 bail.

Riverhead

• An Aquebogue man faces upgraded charges after an accident that killed two in Nassau County, police said.

Robert Beodeker, 50, surrendered to state police investigators and was arrested and charged Friday with aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, two counts of criminally negligent homicide, all of which are felonies, and driving while ability impaired, a misdemeanor, New York State Police said.

The charges stem from a March 4 accident in which Beodeker, police said, was found to have methamphetamine and amphetamine in his blood at the time of a double fatal accident. The accident occurred on the Meadowbrook State Parkway southbound at the interchange with the Southern State Parkway.

• Two Coram men were charged in connection to an early morning graffiti spree on Main Street in Riverhead on Thursday, police said.

According to Riverhead police, authorities responded to a call on West Main Street in the area of Griffing Hardware at 1:37 a.m. in reference to reports of people running across the roof of the store. Police said upon arrival two suspects were seen running across the parking lot and entering a vehicle. Both people were stopped and found to be in possession of numerous spray paint cans and Sharpe markers. Authorities said after further investigation it was found that they had allegedly used the spray paint and markers to create graffiti on numerous Main Street storefronts.

Christopher J. Berg, 18, and Mark H. Cannon, 20, were both arrested. Berg was charged with seven counts of making graffiti, a misdemeanor, petty larceny, a misdemeanor, trespassing, a violation, possession of a graffiti instrument, a misdemeanor, and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, a misdemeanor. Cannon was charged with seven counts of making graffiti, trespassing, and possession of a graffiti instrument.

North Fork

• Employees of a Chinese restaurant in Southold reported an armed robbery Tuesday night.

According to two employees, a man brandishing a gun entered the Cai Hong Restaurant on Route 48 in Southold at  8:58 p.m. and demanded cash.

According  to police, a subject dressed in all black, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, entered the restaurant, displayed a black handgun and stole approximately $500 from the cash register.

The subject then fled in an easterly direction. No further details were immediately available, police said.

The robbery was the second hold-up of a Chinese restaurant on the North Fork in two days: On Sunday night, a masked gunmen held up a Chinese restaurant in Greenport.

According Southold Town police, a call was received Sunday at 8:40 p.m. regarding a robbery that took place at the New China Restaurant on Front Street in Greenport.

Police said a subject dressed in all black, wearing a hat and mask, entered the restaurant, displayed a black handgun and stole approximately $400 from the cash register. The subject then fled in an unknown direction.

• A Greenport resident was arrested after he allegedly stole food from a village restaurant.

According to Southold Town police, Felix Cruz Garcia, 39, of Greenport, was arrested Monday at 8:40 p.m. on Front Street.

Police said Garcia unlawfully entered a Greenport restaurant through a rear kitchen door and removed food items from a refrigerator. Garcia was then confronted by a restaurant employee and fled the area, police said. He was located a short distance away, arrested and charged with burglary in the third degree, a felony.

Police did not release the name of the restaurant in question and said the matter remained under investigation.

Southampton

• A Manhattan man who crashed his vehicle in Sagaponack and then abandoned it, turned himself in on March 1, according to Southampton Town police. The vehicle was found on the shoulder of Sagaponack Road Feb. 25, police said. It was unregistered, uninsured and uninspected, with improper plates, according to the arrest report. Police said 44-year-old Eric M. Kulukundis came to police headquarters in Hampton Bays and admitted that he was behind the wheel during the crash. Kulukundis was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the second degree, a misdemeanor, and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and being an unlicensed driver, both traffic infractions, as well as a number of vehicle and traffic infractions. Police said Kulukundis' right to drive was suspended for having unpaid fines.

• Miguel Lopez, 30, of Southampton, was arrested March 14 at 3:18 p.m. and charged with obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, a misdemeanor.  Police said Lopez called 911 approximately 42 times over the past several weeks for non-emergency reasons, after becoming "very intoxicated." Lopez was found to have a warrant from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was turned over to ICE officials for further processing and deportation, according to police.

• Police said two more East Hampton men have been arrested in connection with a March 9 brawl in a parking lot among patrons of a Main Street restaurant. More than a dozen people were involved in the predawn fight, which left one man with a broken nose and facial lacerations, according to police.  A 23-year-old East Hampton man was arrested on the day of the incident and charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. A second man, Ricardo Martinez, 44, of East Hampton, was arrested March 16 around noon, and the next day so was a third man, Rolando Mendoza-Rivas, 23, also of East Hampton. Both were charged with third-degree assault for their roles in the fight, police said.

• Julian A. Pressley, 19, of Southampton, was arrested March 12 at 1:37 p.m. and charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor.  Police said Pressley assaulted a 58-year-old man on Feb. 24 on Hillcrest Avenue, when a verbal dispute over money became physical.  The victim was treated and released at Southampton Hospital for facial injuries, and a judge issued an order of protection was issued, according to police.