Man Charged With Greenport Commercial Burglaries: Cops

GREENPORT, NY — A man has been charged with two recent Greenport commercial burglaries, police said.

According to Southold Town Police, Juan Lopez, 44, of Riverhead, was arrested on Tuesday at 6:27 p.m. and charged with two counts of third degree burglary, felonies, for burglaries at Front Street Station and the ParaPsychology Foundation, which took place on Aug. 29 and 30.

He was held overnight for arraignment, police said.

The arrest came after an investigation of a number of commercial burglaries in the Greenport area, authorities said.

After the burglaries, owners turned to social media to express their concerns: "Front Street Station was robbed at approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday," said owner Sharon Sailor. "Be aware, be alert. If anyone has information about this, please come forward. We work hard, put in long hours and sacrifice a lot of life's little nuances to do what we love, and to be violated monetarily and emotionally in this way sucks."

Sailor said the culprit stole the cash drawers, complete with cash, a garbage pail and a pushcart with dirty laundry. "The garbage pail, pushcart and dirty linen have been recovered," she said.

Lisette Coly, president of the Eileen J. Garrett Library of Parapsychology, also on Front Street, confirmed that the library was also broken into at the same time, with the alarm panel ripped out. Anastasia Damalas, administrative assistant and Coly's daughter, a fourth generation Garrett, arrived on scene at 2:30 am to meet police.

"We were very upset and alarmed, to say the least," Coly said. "The book collection of over 12,000 volumes was unharmed, as was our audio video collection. Desks were rifled and furniture overturned and the alarm system control panel literally torn out of the wall."

She added: "It was so upsetting but could have been worse. Since 2005 in this location, never a problem. Too bad we are not psychic."

Coly installed a new, "costly alarm system that the non-profit can hardly afford."

The incidents came soon after an arrest was made in the recent vandalism discovered at the Greek Orthodox Church in Greenport; in that incident, glass was broken, and a sign and flowerpots were damaged, police said.

An iconic sign that's been featured in scores of selfies and photos of smiling visitors outside Lavender By the Bay in East Marion has also been stolen, owners report.

According to a Facebook post on Friday, owners were heartbroken to see their sign gone. "We woke up to this disappointing sight," the post read. "Our original sign, that we have had at our family farm since its inception, was stolen last night."

The Rozenbaum family, who own the farm, were stricken Friday morning. "It's hard to understand why anyone would steal our sign. Serge, Chanan and I are shocked that this would happen. We are a farm that grows lavender flowers. What's the point in stealing our sign? Does our sign have any value? Was someone sending us a message? Was it stolen just for kicks? These are questions we ask ourselves but we do not have any answers," Susan Rozenbaum said.

Rozenbaum added that the sign meant a lot to the visitors who came to visit the farm. "It was always amazing to see how many people would take the time to snap a photo in front of the sign," she said.

Rozenbaum asked anyone with information about the missing and "loved sign" to contact the Southold Police Department at 631-765-2600.

"In the end, it's just a sign and our business goes on as usual. Don't worry, it's not going to stop us from having a great holiday weekend to cap off a wonderful summer," she said, adding that the business is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, although the lavender is not currently in bloom. "Thank you to all the lavender lovers who visited us this summer. We appreciate your support," owners said.

Patch file photo.