Police, Owner Puzzled Over Missing $60,000

Southampton Town Police reported on Thursday, January 3, that $60,000 had been taken from a car in Bridgehampton 10 weeks earlier.

       It was seasonably cool day on October 15, when the money disappeared from a car parked behind the Candy Kitchen at the corner of Main and School streets. There is a single parking space next to the back door reserved for the owner. A few other parking spaces lead to a bigger municipal parking lot.

         Town Police did not place a time of day on the event other than to say it was in the early morning.

         Bobby Van’s, the neighboring restaurant two doors down, was likely the last establishment open on Main Street, but it had stopped serving dinner at 10:30 the night before, and even the oftentimes lively late-night bar had been long empty by the time sunrise approached.

         In the front, on Main Street, a security camera next door to the Candy Kitchen captured mostly vehicular traffic north of the stores; around 4:30 AM or shortly later, a tall black male wearing athletic gear and sneakers walked across Main Street, north to south,  in front of the Candy Kitchen and out of the picture.

         Police this week said the individual may know something. He was “wanted only for questioning at this time.” It was a sparse detail, yet all that was released.

         When the owner of the car and money notified police in October, they promised to get back to him in a day or two. They didn’t. He had no idea who “the person of interest” was because no one showed him the picture, he maintained. He had yet to see it on Friday, January 4.

         The Candy Kitchen reopened that day, and it was business as usual. No one knew about the incident.

         Police are looking for the public’s help in identifying and finding the man who is wanted for questioning about the theft.

         Crime Stoppers and Southampton Town police detectives stressed an unknown person or people — perhaps opportunistic passers-by — found themselves in the right place at the right time.

                  Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about the incident can submit an anonymous tip by calling 800-220-TIPS, or by texting “SCPD” and your message to CRIMES (274637). All calls and text messages will be kept confidential.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com