Cops: Man arrested in Port Jefferson Station burglary

An Albertson man was arrested in a burglary in Port Jefferson Station Sunday night after being followed for more than a mile and tackled by the homeowner whose house he was accused of burglarizing.

James Lather, 36, was charged with burglary in the second degree, Suffolk police said.

The case began Sunday night when Port Jefferson Station resident Frank Zimmel, 37, walked back home from a barbecue at a neighbor's house across the street, and another neighbor pointed out a man he had seen coming out of Zimmel's house on John Street.

"We confront the fellow and he says he's a plumber looking for work," said Zimmel. "A plumber looking for work door-to-door on a Sunday on Memorial Day weekend? He said he lived on Taylor Street, but then he pointed in the wrong direction," said Zimmel, a plumber by trade.

Zimmel said he went into his house and found that $17 he had in his wallet near the front door was missing, so he told his neighbor to call police and went after the man, but did not try to stop him.

"I caught up with him about two blocks later, shut the truck off and began to walk with the guy. I figured the cops would find me sooner or later," Zimmel said.

He said as the walk continued, he asked people if they recognized the man, and some said they did. "One guy told me he was an electrician. An electrician and a plumber?" Zimmel said.

"I kept telling people to call 911 and followed him, keeping him at arm's length. . . . And then he got a bit ahead of me and started to run. . . . I caught him and tackled him and held him in a choke hold until the police arrived," Zimmel said.

As police went through the man's pockets, Zimmel said, they found a clump of bills Zimmel said looked like $17, another clump of bills that appeared to be an amount he discovered later had been taken from his wife, and a card from a nail salon. "What's the coincidence this guy has a card from where my wife had her nails done Friday?"

Police said that Lather was arrested with help from Zimmel and a neighbor.

"I just did what I had to to do," Zimmel said. "It was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me in my entire life."