Cops: Armed man arrested after standoff at Hampton Bays beach

An armed Hampton Bays man was arrested after a more-than-three-hour standoff with police and law enforcement agents Monday on a public beach in the Town of Southampton, police said.

Southampton Town police said Paul Zeiser, 51, armed with a handgun, had barricaded himself in a vehicle at Meschutt Beach in Hampton Bays around 1:30 p.m. They said he was involved in a standoff with multiple law enforcement agencies before surrendering at 4:51 p.m.

He was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal mischief and with endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said the incident began with an altercation at an area motel, where they say Zeiser took the computer laptop that belonged to an unidentified juvenile and tossed it into a swimming pool.

Police said Zeiser and the juvenile were not known to each other.

Following the laptop incident, police said, Zeiser left the motel and drove to Meschutt Beach, where someone called 911 to report he was in the vehicle with a handgun.

Responding police and law enforcement evacuated area residents, beachgoers and boaters and secured the site. Agencies included Southampton police officers, detectives, emergency service officers and bay constables, State Police and a state police canine unit, East Hampton Town police emergency service personnel and even a U.S. Coast Guard unit, police said.

Arraignment information also was not immediately available and it was not clear if Zeiser is represented by counsel.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”