Crime & Safety

Crimes Nearby: Young Mom Killed in Eastport Hit-and-Run

Police are still looking for the driver who struck and killed Erika Strebel and injured her friend.

The following information was supplied by the East End and Suffolk Count police departments. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

WESTHAMPTON

• A woman was killed and a man was injured during a hit-and-run accident in Eastport on Saturday night.

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Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Vehicular Crime Unit are investigating the crash that occurred on Montauk Highway, near Old Montauk Highway, at about 9:05 p.m.

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Erika Strebel, a 27-year-old mother, and her companion Edward Barton were standing near Strebel’s disabled 1988 Jeep on the shoulder of the eastbound lane when they were struck by a vehicle that was travelling east on Montauk Highway, according to police.

The vehicle, which police said would have sustained front end damage, fled east on Montauk Highway. According to a police spokeswoman, the vehicle that hit them was believed to be large, like a sport utility vehicle or a pickup truck, and possibly metallic blue.

• A 29-year-old East Quogue man has been charged after a Southampton Town police investigation found that he had burglarized an East Quogue home several times over the past year. 

Police said aside from stealing items, including electronics from the residence between March 2012 and October 2013, Hector Alexis Aguilar allegedly performed lewd acts while peering into the homeowner's windows. 

Police said they were able to recover many of the items Aguilar took from the home. 

EAST HAMPTON

• A 17-year-old from Elmhurst was arrested on a drunken driving charge and his mother, who was a passenger, was arrested as well when she tried to prevent his arrest during a traffic stop in Springs on Nov. 1. 

Police said the family's 2010 Nissan was seen swerving on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road, near Folkstone Drive, at about 10 p.m. The officer reportedly saw the Nissan unsafely pass another vehicle in a no passing zone, too. Police tried to initiate a traffic stop at the intersection of Gann Road, but the driver drove off the pavement and continued several hundred feet before stopping near Squaw Road. The driver —a teenaged boy — appeared intoxicated and performed poorly on field sobriety tests, police said.

While an officer placed the teen under arrest, his 33-year-old mother "became irate and exited the front passenger seat in an attempt to prevent the arrest," police wrote in their report. They said they warned her several times to stay in the vehicle, but she pushed one of the officers she was trying to get past — not once, but twice in the chest. 

• Rody D. Tapia, 39, of Springs, was arrested on a felony drunken driving charge, following an accident close to his house on Roosevelt Avenue on the evening of Oct. 27. Tapia was driving his 2009 Audi north when he hit a 1991 Nissan, parked on the side of the road at about 7:50 p.m. He then proceeded to his driveway. When police arrived they found a vehicle matching the description in the driveway of 40 Roosevelt Ave., and found three men standing around the Audi, which had front driver's side damage. There was also blood on the steering wheel and driver's seat, police said. Tapia came out of the house and stood on the front porch, and police said they could see he was bleeding from his face. Police interviewed him, found he didn't need medical attention, but that he had been drinking. He was placed under arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, a felony, at 8:40 p.m. His Audi was impounded. Held overnight, he was arraigned the next day. Bail was set $10,000. 

SOUTHAMPTON

• A 45-year-old Sag Harbor man is being charged with a felony after he allegedly shot and killed a rooster on Foster Farm in Sagaponack on Nov. 3. 

According to police, Jameson Ellis was driving a 1999 Subaru down Main Street in Sagaponack at around 8:30 a.m. when he was stopped for an expired inspection sticker. When the officer questioned Ellis, he discovered a box of .22 caliber rifle bullets sitting in the front seat. The officer then noticed the .22 rifle in the back of the vehicle behind the driver.


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