Weird News: Military Chopper Lands in Sod Field; Shrimp Thieves Cooked

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from before the blizzard hit.

Blackhawk Down

Several days before DeLea Sod Farm on Route 25A in Miller Place was buried under nearly three feet of snow, a military helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing there, a weird occurence for the area to say the least.

The FAA confirmed that it was a National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, and initially said it may have been struck by a bird. However a later report said the problem was cased when a flap on the windshield flew open during the flight, cracking the windshield.

Oh Bubba

In last weird pre-storm story came out of Riverhead, where sticky-fingered shrimp lovers were netted by Suffolk County law enforcement officers.

According to Suffolk County police, four Calverton residents were arrested and charged with stealing frozen shrimp from supermarkets since December.

Police said during a petty larceny investigation, seventh precinct crime section officers discovered a pattern involving the theft of frozen shrimp valued at more than $2,400, which occurred at supermarkets in the fifth and seventh Precincts.

Officers identified and pulled over the suspect’s vehicle with proceeds inside and arrested four people in the car on Jan. 30, police said.

Seventh precinct crime section officers, with the assistance of fifth precinct crime section officers, charged Joseph Elardo, 34, Sharmane Cromer, 34, James Donnellan, 33, and Nicole Johnson, 22, all the same address on Southfield Road in Calverton, with 22 counts of petit larceny, two counts of attempted larceny, two counts of possession of a hypodermic needle and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Upon further investigation, police said it was discovered that the suspects were allegedly selling the frozen shrimp to a local Chinese restaurant to support their alleged drug habits.