The tackle shop responds to the recent shoplifting incident

News of the incident quickly spread throughout the local fishing community after White Water Outfitters posted video and photo evidence on its social media platforms showing Mr. Falussy allegedly carrying a custom-made Accurate BV2-600 fishing reel on April 23 had stolen. The Instagram post has more than 1,100 likes and almost 200 comments (as of Tuesday).

“We don’t normally post things like this, but since stories are circulating, we want to set the record straight and state the facts,” the post said. “Stealing is ALWAYS wrong. But it’s incredibly sad when it’s done by someone trying to be part of our local fishing community.”

The News-Review left a voicemail with Big Al’s Bait and Tackle but did not receive a response before press time. A Freedom of Information Act request to the City of Southampton Police Department requesting the full police report on Mr Falussy’s arrest was rejected. The agency said releasing the report “would prejudice law enforcement investigations or legal proceedings.”

“The subject (Mr. Falussy) was processed and released on an appearance ticket,” a news release from the Southampton Police Department said.

Bryce Poyer, an Aquebogue resident and owner of White Water Outfitters, said in a recent interview that Mr. Falussy joined White Water Outfitters and made a purchase.

“Some people said in his defense, ‘Oh, he walked out with a spool in his hand,’ he was actually conducting a normal retail transaction,” Poyer said. “But he used – and this is very clear – the Accurate BV2-600, a tuna jigging reel. It’s a custom color, it has a serial number, we have the empty box with the matching serial number.”

The roll retails for $669.

Following the incident, White Water Outfitters employees have taken several new measures to prevent something like this from happening again. This also includes carefully monitoring the items in the store – even if the customer is a colleague in the industry.

“The one thing I have to drill into my employees’ heads is: No matter who the person is and no matter who you think they are, whether they’re a family member, the president of the fishing club, whether they’re a wholesale customer “Make sure you don’t walk away when you take the rolls out of the display cases and place them on the counter for display,” Mr. Poyer said. “Don’t let (the customer) say, ‘Okay, now that I’ve picked out the reel, let’s look at some rods.’ Before you look at the rods, the other reels need to go. And that sucks because it slows down the entire pace of the transaction, but at the end of the day, unfortunately, that’s the world we live in right now.”