A bicyclist, Steven Ramirez, 26, of Philadelphia, was taken to Southampton Hospital last Thursday afternoon after being hit by a car on Route 114 near Goodfriend Drive in East Hampton. The driver, James M. Bayrami, 25, of Sag Harbor, who was arrested after the accident and charged with driving while impaired by drugs, was to be brought back to East Hampton Town Justice Court today after being taken to the county jail in Riverside, unable to make bail.
Based on the statement of a witness, East Hampton Town police said the car, a 2009 Ford, had veered sharply onto the shoulder, used by cyclists as a bicycle path. Mr. Ramirez was thrown onto the hood.
The first officer to arrive described the driver as “disoriented.” Mr. Bayrami told him that “I smoked a joint when I woke up around 11 a.m.,” he reported.
There were two passengers in the car, an East Hampton woman whom police did not identify and a hitchhiker who left the scene before officers arrived. The witness was not one of the passengers.
At police headquarters in Wainscott, Mr. Bayrami refused to consent to have blood drawn for a drug test. “Not without speaking to my lawyer,” he said.
He was wearing only a bathing suit when arrested, and was still wearing it at his arraignment on Friday. He had told police he was on his way to the beach when the accident happened.
Justice Lisa R. Rana set bail of $1,500, observing that “for someone so young” Mr. Bayrami has had several brushes with the law. Mr. Ramirez, the bicyclist, has since been released from the hospital.
Combined police forces from the county, town, and village conducted a sweep targeting drunken drivers over the holiday weekend, making six arrests. Between the two jurisdictions, the week’s total was 16.
A man from Jupiter, Fla., Joseph V. DiScala, 64, was pulled over on Cedar Street a little after Saturday midnight. Officers who stopped his 2013 Mercedes said it had swerved across the road and almost collided with an oncoming patrol car. He reportedly told them, “I had a few drinks.”
After a search, he was allegedly found to have “a plastic Baggie containing a white powdery substance,” which tested positive as cocaine, as well as two loose halves of Vicodin, a controlled substance. He wound up facing three counts of misdemeanor drug possession on top of the charge of driving while intoxicated. Back at headquarters, he refused to be tested for blood-alcohol content.
Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $1,000, which was immediately posted.
Another man picked up in the weekend sweep has been in the Riverside jail, unable to make bail, since his arraignment Sunday morning. Marlon Antonio Perez, 31, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., told the court he had been visiting his mother in Montauk when a Suffolk County officer pulled him over for running a stop sign at South Edison Street. He too refused to take a breath test at headquarters.
“He admitted to having eight or nine beers. He has an open D.W.I. charge in Pennsylvania from March 2013,” Adriana Mora, an assistant county district attorney, told the court. Justice Tekulsky noted that apart from his mother in Montauk the man had few if any local ties, and set bail at $2,500.
Mr. Perez will be brought back to court today to discuss his options with a Legal Aid Society lawyer, Brian Francese.
Yet another man who refused to take the breath test was Christopher E. George, 31, of Greenwich Village, who was arrested early Sunday morning. Refusing to take a chemical test results in an automatic one-year revocation of in-state driving privileges. Ms. Mora told the court that Mr. George had two previous convictions for driving with ability impaired by alcohol. Bail was set at $1,000, which was posted.
An accident on Woods Lane by Town Pond in the village led to a D.W.I. charge for a New York woman who is staying in East Hampton for the summer. Police said Amanda Carmel Schwartz, 19, driving a 2013 Toyota, rear-ended a 2013 Mercedes on Friday afternoon. Both cars were in the left-turn lane at the time. She was released without bail, but with a future date in court.
Augusto Mateo Tomas, 25, of Sag Harbor, Wilson H. Mendez Gordillo of Springs, 32, and Nicole M. George, 23, of New York City, were all arrested during the weekend sweep. All were released on bail. Mr. Tomas’s breath test allegedly produced a .21 reading, high enough to trigger a heightened charge of aggravated D.W.I.
Also charged this past week with aggravated drunken driving were Rodrigo Moreira Talarico, 31, of New York, and Eric J. Davidson, 21, of Wainscott and New York.
An Englishman who was arrested early Saturday morning on Pantigo Road, just yards from the courthouse, on charges of driving while intoxicated, found that the justice system in East Hampton can be swift. Jack T. Widdup, 31, who had been staying in Southampton, told the court at his arraignment that morning that he was scheduled to return home to London on Tuesday.
Told that his bail would be $2,500, Mr. Widdup was visibly shaken. After being given a chair to sit in, he told the court that he had a funeral to attend in London. Justice Tekulsky set Monday afternoon for his return to court, at which time he pleaded guilty and was fined $650. He paid, and presumably made his flight back the next day.
Others facing D.W.I. charges this week were Stephen D. LaFountain, 25, of Sag Harbor, Christopher Jebsen, 34, of Greenwich Village, Tor F. Johnson, 47, of Miller Place, Jonatan A. Vintimilla Ceballos, 22, of Coatesville, Pa., and Kate Plachy, 21 of Amagansett.