14 People Found Living in Overcrowded Riverhead Home

Town of Riverhead officials found 14 people — one of whom was an infant — living in a single-family home, resulting in the homeowner being issued violations for unsafe overcrowding conditions. Riveread Town Police officers, town code enforcement officers and town attorneys execuetd a search warrant on the property on August 19, when authorities found the basement divided into three makeshift living quarters in which occupants were sleeping near heater/boiler equipment and exposed wiring and insulation.

“These violations represent a risk to the safety and welfare of the  residents of the subject property as well as the residents of the surrounding area and will not  be tolerated in Riverhead,” Riverhead Town Supervisor Timothy Hubbard said.

The case is one of a dozen that Riverhead authorities are pursuing town code violations and alleged overcrowding conditions, officials said.

Violations issued in the most recent case were for overcrowding, exposed wiring, insufficient smoke detection equipment, inadequate egress paths, conversion of inhabitable space into living quarters without building permits or certificates of occupancy and lack of rental permit.

Investigators also said they found evidence of people living in a detached unheated garage on the property.