Aquebogue resident charged in Southold gang attack

Update: 2:23 p.m.: Three suspects charged in a Tuesday shoot in Southold appeared before Judge Rudolph Bruer at Southold Town Justice Court Tuesday. Bail for each was set at $250,000. The three are due back in Southold Town justice court Friday, police said.

Original story: An Aquebogue resident was one of three men arrested by Southold Town Police in connection with a gang-related shooting and machete attack in Southold early Tuesday morning that left two men hospitalized. (See prior story on SoutholdLOCAL.com)

Southold Police said Pedro Emilio Santamaria, 31, of Greenport,Nathanael Recinos Torres, 19, of Aquebogue, and Walter Vasquez, 17, of Greenport, who were arrested on felony assault and weapons charges, are members of the MS-13 gang.

The shootings occurred after midnight Tuesday on South Harbor Road in Southold, police said.

Police said it appears that the incident stems from a dispute between some of the defendants and the victims that occurred at the Third Street Park in Greenport on Friday night. Police said they believe the victims are members of Mara-18 or 18th Street, a rival street gang.

The victims were spotted by the MS-13 members as they walked along the roadway on Route 25 and South Harbor Road where they both lived, according to a police press release. The MS-13 members then ambushed the victims, police said, and as many as five shots were fired from a .22 caliber handgun. One of the victims was attacked with a machete.

A responding officer subsequently spotted Santamaria and Recinos Torres in a parked vehicle a short distance from the scene of the shooting — and a loaded .22 calibre semi-automatic handgun was discovered in the vehicle, police said.

During the subsequent investigation, it was learned that Vasquez was also involved, police said; he was arrested at Greenport High School, where he is a student.

The victims remain hospitalized in Peconic Bay Medical Center.

Santamaria and Recinos Torres were charged with assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, felonies; Vasquez was charged with assault in the first degree, a felony, police said, Additionally, it was learned that Vasquez and Recinos Torres are in the United States illegally and are currently in removal proceedings, police said; the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected.

In past years, the Third Street Park in Greenport was thought to be the site of possible gang activity. Years ago, Mayor David Kapell brought Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angels out to the park and Guardian Angels patrols into the village, to help deter gang activity.

Photo caption (top): Mug shots of two of the three people charged in the assault: Pedro Emilio Santamaria, 31, of Greenport, left, and Nathanael Recinos Torres, 19, of Aquebogue. Police declined to release the mug shot of Walter Vasquez, 17, of Greenport. (Southold Police handout)

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.