Community Corner

Eye to the East: Exotic Cat Reported in East Hampton

Also this week, D.A. Thomas Spota will be eyeing boats after an East End DWI Task Force, and in Flanders/Riverside, residents blasted off on cops.

Throughout the week, we do our best to offer you local news that hits close to home. With a wide network of Patch sites across Long Island, we thought we'd also make available a round-up of news from our East End sites.

A Jaguar, a Big Domestic Cat, a Fox or a Hoax in East Hampton?

The State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed on Monday that it was investigating, like a jaguar, on the loose in East Hampton. As the week progressed, it told East Hampton Patch that they , likely with mange. And as late as Friday another reader noted that he  in East Hampton on Thursday afternoon. And on Friday evening, of perhaps a black panther prowling around the village green.

Locals say crimes such as prostitution and drug deals are taking place in broad daylight on the streets of Riverside and Flanders — and they have had enough.

Find out what's happening in Hauppaugewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At Monday night's meeting of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Civic Association, President Brad Bender said increased drug activity, as well as prostitution, in areas including Old Quogue Road, Wildwood Lake, and Vail Avenue, led to the civic group's reaching out to the  for answers.

To that end, Southampton Town Police Sergeant Sue Ralph and police officer Craig Slovensky came to listen to residents' concerns and discuss escalating crime in the area. 

Find out what's happening in Hauppaugewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The heads of several village, town, county and state level law enforcement agencies — as well as the U.S. Coast Guard — joined Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota on Friday afternoon in Hampton Bays to laud the success of the new East End DWI Task Force — and announce that the joint effort will now extend to the water.

Spota in late May, just in time for  Memorial Day weekend. Since then, it's been a busy summer for police officers who Spota deputized so they could cross jurisdictions for drunk and drugged driving crackdowns. Spota said Friday that scores of drivers under the influence were arrested throughout the East End since Memorial Day, thanks to the task force, making the roads safer for residents and summer visitors.


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