Crimes Nearby: Accused Drug Ring Kingpin Operated From Riverhead Home

Stony Brook

Thomas Steinmetz, 34, of Stony Brook, was arrested July 27 in North Bay Shore and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police say Steinmetz possessed a hypodermic instrument and a controlled substance when they stopped him at 8:55 p.m. on Fifth Ave. At the Third Precinct in Central Islip, police say they found a different controlled substance in his possession, and charged him with a second count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Setauket

Norman Torgersen IV, 40, of Setauket, was arrested July 26 in Centereach and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police observed him parked in a vehicle in a parking lot on Route 25 in Centereach at approximately 5 p.m.

Mount Sinai

Joseph Militscher, of Mount Sinai, was arrested July 27 in Farmingville and charged with public lewdness. Militscher was allegedly engaged in a sexual act in public.

Smithtown

Christopher Baessler, 29, of St. James, was arrested and charged for operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs on July 25. According to police, Baessler was driving his 2005 Ford at the corner of Main Street and Singer Lane in Smithtown when he parked his car halfway on the curb.

Riverhead

The "kingpin" behind a major drug ring that distributed cocaine across the East End was operating out of his Riverhead home, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said on Tuesday.

"This was clearly a multimillion dollar operation," Spota said.

Robert Love, 58, of 29 Oakland Drive South, was allegedly involved in a Bronx-to-Riverhead drug ring delivering up to 3 kilos a week of powder cocaine; hidden "traps" were used to hide drugs in cars during runs, police say.

Spota held to announce the dismantling of the ring.

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