Undercover Sting Uncovering Alcohol Sales To Minors Nets Multiple Arrests: Police

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Numerous individuals were nabbed Saturday in an undercover sting aimed at cracking down on the sale of alcohol to minors, police said.

The Southampton Town Police Department's community response unit, in conjunction with the New York State Liquor Authority, conducted the investigation, police said.

Underage police agents were utilized to attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages from premises licensed to sell alcohol within Southampton Town, police said.

Business operations, as required by law, were observed, with 18 different establishments visited, police said.

Underage agents were able to purchase alcoholic beverages from 6 of the 18 businesses, police said. Several of the businesses were found to be in violation of security guard use and licensing along with other minor SLA violations, police said.

After the underage agents were able to purchase alcohol beverages, the following individuals were arrested and charged with first degree unlawfully dealing with a child, and prohibited sales to a minor, both misdemeanors, police said. All arrested were processed at Southampton Town Police headquarters and released on appearance tickets to return to court at a later date, police said.

Those arrested, police said, included:

- Morena Garcia-Palma, 24, of Flanders, was arrested at the Garden Deli, located at790 Flanders Road in Flanders, police said.

- Zubair Ahsan, 37, of East Patchogue, and Frayner Figeroa-Solorzan, 18, of Riverhead, were arrested at 7-Eleven, located at 721 Flanders Road, Flanders, after they, in conjunction, sold alcohol to the underage agent, police said.

- Saeed Akhtar, 58, of Patchogue, was arrested at Valero Gas, located at 7 Peconic Avenue in Riverside, police said.

- Ismail Demiresik, 54, of Hampton Bays, was arrested at the Shell gas station, located at 172 West Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays, police said.

- Erdogan Suni, 61, of Babylon, was arrested at Sunoco Gas, located at 478 County Road 39 in Southampton, police said.

- James Simpson, 26, of West Islip, was arrested at Oryea, located at 281 County Road 39 in Southampton, police said.

The following individuas were arrested and issued appearance tickets for working as security guards without possessing the required New York State security guard license; they were charged with unlicensed security guard, a misdemeanor, police said.

- Bryant Figueroa, 30, of Smithtown, and Andrew Evans, 22, of Memphis, Tennessee, were arrested at AM Southampton, located at 125 Tuckahoe Lane in Southampton, police said.

- Ervin Esson, 24, of Calverton,was arrested at North Sea Tavern, located at 1271 North Sea Road in North Sea, police said.

The following arrests were also made, police said.

- Jonathan Pirozzi, 43, of North Sea was arrested at North Sea Tavern, located at 1271 North Sea Road in North Sea after it was learned that he was employing an unlicensed security guard, police said. He was charged with employing unlicensed security guard, a misdemeanor, and released on an appearance ticket, police said.

- Benjamin C. Hamer, 19, of Westport, CT, was arrested at AM Southampton, located at 125 Tuckahoe Lane in Southampton, after he was observed to be inside the club in possession of an alcoholic beverage, police said. He was also found to be in possession of a fraudulent Pennsylvania driver’s license, police said. He was charged with second degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony, and possession of alcohol by a person under 21, a violation, and held for arraignment, police said.

Southampton Town Police ask that anyone with information on any criminal activity call the Southampton Town Police at 631-728-5000, the Southampton Town detective unit at 631-702-2230, or the Crime Hotline at 631-728-3454. All calls will be kept confidential. Individuals can also email crimetips@southamptontownny.gov.