Teenager Dies In Single-Car Crash

An East Quogue man was killed Saturday morning, June 8, in a single-car accident on Old Country Road near Lewis Road in East Quogue.

Gianni Mongelluzzo, 19, an honor student and first-rate baseball player who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School was driving and his car had no passengers.

Mongelluzzo was driving at about 9:30 AM when he apparently lost control of his 1996 Chevrolet Corvette and crashed into a pole on Old Country Road in East Quogue, according to Southampton Town Police.

Mongelluzzo attended elementary school at East Quogue School and graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 2018. He was a member of the National Honor Society and a top-notch baseball pitcher. He was a student at Clemson University at the time of his death.

Also on Saturday, June 8, the Southampton Town Police Department arrested Jan-Carel Van-Heyningen, age 24, and Claudia Strzesak, age 18, both of Shirley, and charged them with passing counterfeit money.

Police said they were alerted to an incident at a Hampton Bays Marina in which Van-Heyningen and Strzesak utilized counterfeit $100 bills to purchase two used 200HP Yamaha boat engines. The victim did not realize the bills were counterfeit until the pair had left from the area with the boat engines. The total amount passed was allegedly $5000.

Both Van-Heyningen and Strzesak were hit with a charge of second-degree criminal possession of forged instrument, a class D-Felony. They were held overnight at Southampton Town Police Headquarters for arraignment at Southampton Town Justice Court.

A Hampton Jitney employee was arrested on May 25 charged with taking almost $22,000 worth of truck parts. Brett Betheil, 48, of Miller Place, who worked as a bus mechanic for the Jitney, stole numerous bus replacement parts in March and April. Riverhead Police picked up Betheil at the company’s Calverton facility.

In other news, a sordid tale involving minors is playing out in Westhampton Village, where local police announced the arrest of two 12-year-old boys on felony sexual abuse charges.

Relatives of a third, younger minor who was the alleged victim, went to police, and lodged the complaint. Police made the arrests at the end of May following an investigation. The two boys were charged with for sexual abuse in the first degree, a Class D felony.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com