Worker in Hauppauge cited by Suffolk police for blasting music through 'concert-level' speakers

An employee at a Hauppauge moving and storage company turned his speakers up to 11, but it was no laughing matter to neighbors on a weeknight.

Jose Santana works for Relocators on Kennedy Drive. He also stacked a mountain of red and black speakers — from high to low range — in the company parking lot and cranked up the volume. Too much, as it turns out, the Suffolk County Police Department said Wednesday.

Santana, 29, was cited for violating Town of Smithtown noise ordinances late Tuesday after he played "loud music" through eight "concert-level" speakers hooked up to a vehicle battery, according to a police news release.

Santana was "broadcasting amplified music in violation of the Town of Smithtown’s noise restrictions," said the police, adding that officers responded after 911 calls.

The town code, posted on the town's website, prohibits: "Sound device or apparatus: operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any sound device or apparatus ... in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance; or the operation of any such device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a manner as to be audible at a distance of 50 feet from the building, structure, vehicle or area in which it is located."

Relocators founder Robert Esposito, in an email Wednesday to Newsday, described Santana as a "longtime employee." The company hopes to continue its "good relationships with our neighbors and surrounding businesses, " Esposito said.

"Upon learning of the situation, we immediately addressed it with the longtime employee," Esposito said in the email via a spokesperson. "We are committed to ensuring that this type of situation never occurs again."

The speakers "were seized by police," the police release said. Newsday was unable to reach Santana immediately Wednesday for comment.