Crimes Nearby: Man's Supposed Meetup with Minor Foiled

Suffolk County police reported the following arrests.

Three Village

New York State Police said a 62-year-old East Setauket man was about to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl in upstate New York for a sexual affair when instead, he was arrested by undercover police. According to police, Michael Ripp made plans to meet a girl "for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct." However the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Attorney General’s office, the State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and State Police units had tracked the meet-up and arrested Ripp on charges of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, a felony, and attempted endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned in an Albany court and held without bail.

Suffolk police are investigating the theft of a car from the parking lot of Sunrise Senior Living in East Setauket last week. The vehicle, a 1999 Plymouth Breeze, went missing sometime on Jan. 3 between 1:35 and 10 p.m. The management at Sunrise could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kings Park

Sufian Ali, 21, of North Babylon, was charged with third-degree grand larceny, a felony, on Jan. 4 in Kings Park. According to police, Sufian changed the dollar amount on a check for more than it was written for and deposited it at a Chase bank on 35 Woods Rd. in North Babylon.

Karl Werkheiser, 24, of Kings Park, was charged on with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, on Jan. 3 in Nesconset. According to police, Werkheiser stole a Chase ATM debit card and used it to withdraw money.

Konnie Enriquez, 25, of Kings Park, was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge in Smithtown. Police said Enriquez was driving a 1994 Jeep at a high rate of speed on Main Street on Jan. 1. Police charged Enriquez with DWI and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.

Haupauge

James Merrigan, 47, of Seaford, was arrested on Jan. 2 in Hauppauge on first-degree promoting gambling charges, a felony. Reports state Merrigan knowingly made profits off of unlawful gambling activities. Police said Merrigan was in concert with others in book making and accepting bets totalling more than $5,000.

Paul Merring, 28, of Hauppauge, was arrested on Jan. 2 in Smithtown on first-degree operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs charges, a misdemeanor. Reports state Merring was crossing the double-yellow lines in the road while impaired by drugs driving a 2004 Dodge pickup at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Route 111. 

Miller Place-Rocky Point

Michael Henry, 26, of Shoreham, was arrested Jan. 6 in Shoreham and charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor. Henry allegedly took two boxes of Visine eye drops from Waldbaum’s in Rocky Point and left without paying.

Port Jefferson

Police said a Port Jefferson Station woman was recently arrested after she was caught attempting to scam people for donations that she said were for a children's educational program, while using the money to buy drugs.

Police responded responded to a location on Route 25 in Centereach on Saturday around 3 p.m., and said they found Ellen Burkheimer pretending to represent Head Start, which provides education and health services for children in low-income families.

According to police, Burkheimer had fraudulent documents in her possession as part of the scheme and further investigation revealed that she was using funds that she received to purchase heroin, pay her rent, and for other various personal expenses. She was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, a felony, as well as misdemeanor charges of scheme to defraud in the second degree and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument.

According to online court records, she was held on $3,000 cash bail, which she was unable to pay, and is due back in court on Friday.