Riverhead Police investigate reported assault and attempted robbery

Riverhead Police are seeking information about a reported assault and attempted robbery in Polish Town early this morning.

Police said they were called to Peconic Bay Medical Center at 4:32 a.m. today regarding the possible victim of an assault and attempted robbery.

The victim, a 25-year-old Hispanic male, was at Peconic Bay Medical Center with a bruise and laceration to his head, according to police.

The victim told police that while walking near his residence he was struck on the head with a blunt object. The blow caused him to fall to the ground, he told officers. The victim reported three or four black male subjects attempted to remove a gold necklace from his neck. He said he was able to run away to a nearby friend’s residence on Parkway Street and was transported to PBMC for treatment.

The Riverhead Detective Division was notified and the incident is currently under investigation.

Anyone that may have witnessed the described incident is requested to contact the Detective Division at 631-727-4500.

Last year, Riverhead officials expressed concern about a rash of violent muggings victimizing Hispanic men walking in the Polish Town area. The crimes led Supervisor Sean Walter to reach out to the Guardian Angels to begin patrols of the area, in what he said was an effort to bridge a communications gap with Riverhead’s Latino community. The organization began patrols in Riverhead early last month. Town officials also reconstituted Riverhead’s anti-bias task force, which had been inactive for a number of years, to help address the problem.

Editor’s note: In its original form, this story omitted background information about the history of attacks and muggings victimizing Hispanic men in the Polish Town area of Riverhead.