Friday, August 24 2012 07:05

Written by Peter Blasl

Blaring sirens awakened downtown residents early Friday morning as Riverhead volunteer firefighters raced to a Dumpster fire behind the Fairfield apartment complex on Roanoke Avenue just north of Route 58.

Firefighters quickly doused the fire, which remained confined to the trash container.

The cause was undetermined, First Assistant Chief Joe Raynor.

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Thursday, August 23 2012 17:00

Written by RiverheadLOCAL

State Supreme Court Justice William Condon today sentenced Kalila Taylor to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Riverhead High School student Curtisha Morning in 1996.

Kalila Taylor was convicted for a second time last month of stabbing Morning in a fit of jealously in February 1996.  Taylor stabbed Morning, 17, more than 90 times, according to prosecutors, who said the attack was provoked by Taylor’s belief that her boyfriend, the father of her child, showed a romantic interest in Morning. 

Her first conviction, in 1999, was overturned in 2004 by an appellate court, which ruled that the trial judge incorrectly instructed the jury regarding DNA evidence.

Taylor is now 35 years old.

“It is our hope this second conviction will provide the Morning family with some measure of peace and closure,” District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Thursday, August 23 2012 07:05

Written by Denise Civiletti

(Updated- 9:45 am) Suffolk County Police arson squad investigators have determined the April wildfire that burned more than 1,000 acres in Ridge and Manorville was intentionally set.

Arson section detectives are asking for the public's help to identify and locate the person or persons responsible for intentionally setting the fire, which started at about 2:30 in the afternoon on Monday, April 9 in the woods on the north side of Brookhaven National Laboratory, according to police. A $10,000 cash reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS or the Arson Task Force at 631-654-1211. All calls will be kept confidential, police said.

Investigators with the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in May they believed the cause of the wildfire was arson, but the Suffolk County Police at that time said they had not yet reached any conclusion. See prior story.

After the DEC released its finding, a Suffolk police spokesperson said the county still considered the cause of the fire to be "undetermined."

"It doesn't appear the fire was from natural causes, but that doesn't mean it was intentionally set," the police spokesperson said. "There may come a time when we make that determination, but we are not there yet," she said.

Suffolk arson detectives declined to disclose when or why the determined the cause of the fire was arson, a police spokesperson told RiverheadLOCAL this morning.

The DEC provided "investigative information" to the county police, a DEC spokesperson said May 4. The information shared with the county could not be made public due to the ongoing investigation, she said.

The blaze broke out in mid-afternoon on a day when officials had issued a red flag warning for wildfire risk. Exceptionally dry conditions combined with strong, gusty winds combined to make conditions ripe for the ignition and rapid spread of wildfires.

The fire started in Ridge, on or near the northeast corner of the Brookhaven National Laboratory campus in Upton, according to the DEC. It tore through the woods into Manorville, burning up more than 1,000 acres and destroying three homes, a commercial building, numerous small structures, and several vehicles, including Manorville Fire Department brush trucks.

One Manorville volunteer firefighter suffered second-degree burns battling the blaze, which took two days to put down. All 109 fire departments in Suffolk County responded.

Thursday, August 23 2012 06:57

Written by RiverheadLOCAL

Two people were arrested for violating orders of protection as they tried to enter the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside Tuesday.

A Suffolk County deputy sheriff arrested the operators of two vehicles at the guard booth at the entrance to the jail. The two vehicles happened to pull up to the guard booth back to back shortly before 3 p.m., according to a new release issued by the sheriff's department.

Deputy Sheriff Joseph Mirro arrested:

Crystal Webberly, 29, of Middle Island, for violating a temporary order of protection, by being in the same vehicle as her 11-month-old child;

Christopher Robert Mizelle, 26, of Huntington, for violating of a permanent order of protection, by being in the same vehicle as his passenger.

Mizelle fled the scene and was apprehended after a short dispute, according to the report. Mizelle had been released from the jail on July 17, after serving a 30-day sentence on another charge, according to the sheriff's office.

Webberly was charged with misdemeanor criminal contempt in the second degree and Mizelle was charged with felony criminal contempt in the first degree, obstructing governmental administration and various traffic violations.

Both defendants were held overnight for arraignment in Southampton Town Justice Court Wednesday.

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.