Police — Cash reward for tips on Silver Beach burglaries

The Suffolk County and Shelter Island Police departments are asking for the public’s help to identify and locate several people who burglarized and vandalized two Silver Beach homes in April.

According to the police, “Detectives believe multiple people entered two homes in the Silver Beach section between April 10 and April 12. The first residence sustained light interior damage and alcoholic beverages were stolen. The second residence sustained substantial interior damage, and a small fire was started within the residence. Alcohol was brought to the second residence and consumed.”

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers are offering a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.

According to the County Police Department, “Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.”

Here’s a previous report on the crimes published by the Reporter:

In the second week of April, Shelter Island Police were called to a Silver Beach residence on Peconic Avenue to investigate a break-in with significant vandalism to the interior. A week later another break-in was discovered.

Both are being “actively investigated,” Det. Sgt. Jack Thilberg said.

Silver Beach residents are not just concerned, but “deeply concerned,” Councilman Jim Colligan told the Reporter.

It wasn’t just trespassing, but the damage left by the perpetrators was “major,” said Mr. Colligan, a former president of the Silver Beach Civic Association.

He knows the homeowner whose property was damaged, and was on the scene not long after the crime was reported. Mr. Colligan said the damage looked to him to be “malicious,” with broken furniture, a musical instrument broken and lamps smashed, among other scenes of destruction. “Clothes were tried on and clothes were ripped. It was obvious they were drinking and partying over a period of time,” Mr. Colligan said.

A nearby neighbor, who preferred not to give her name, was also at the house not long after the break-in was discovered.

“It was very scary,” she said, describing how the vandals took knives from a wooden holder in the kitchen and “slashed beds, and every down comforter and pillow.”

The vandals also carved a threatening obscenity in a wall along with a grotesque sexual image, the neighbor said. “It seemed so … angry,” she said. She and other neighbors offered the homeowners a place to stay and also brought food for them in the aftermath of the shocking discoveries.

The second incident was similar, and Det. Thilberg said “we believe they are related.”

The seriousness of the crimes, and the extent of the investigation by the Shelter Island Police Department, are such that Det. Thilberg said, the “Suffolk County Crime Laboratory and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office are assisting us in the investigation.”