An East Hampton man, Eduardo Vazquez-Dominguez, was released by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department on Monday after posting $10,000 in bail despite an active Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment request. Mr. Vazquez-Dominguez, 33, was charged with three felonies Saturday night, including drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and unlicensed driving.
Arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court Sunday morning, he was represented by Carl Irace, who convinced Justice Steven Tekulsky that requiring $15,000 bail, which the district attorney’s office had requested, would prevent his client from properly defending himself, and he questioned the strength of the people’s case.
Michael Sharkey, chief of the sheriff’s office, said Tuesday that the detainment request form, for whatever reason, was not attached to Mr. Vazquez-Dominguez’s paperwork. Otherwise, he said, the Sheriff Department would have honored the ICE request, which calls for holding prisoners 48 hours after their scheduled release in order to allow ICE time to pick them up.
According to town police, Mr. Vazquez-Dominguez was driving a 2008 Ford pickup west on Montauk Highway near Indian Wells Highway in Amagansett when he veered into the oncoming lane, sideswiping a 2008 Toyota’s rear quarter panel, then drove off. Police said he headed to Town Lane, speeding, and ran two stop signs. He was pulled over on Spinner Lane in East Hampton and failed roadside sobriety tests. The drunken driving charge was a felony because he has a prior D.W.I. conviction in East Hampton dating to 2010. At headquarters, his breath test reading of .16 of 1 percent was double the .08 level that defines intoxication.
Justice Tekulsky pointed out that, besides Mr. Vazquez-Dominguez’s prior D.W.I. conviction, he also had been convicted in April of a misdemeanor unlicensed driving charge. He is due back in court this morning.
Mark G. Proctor, 52, of Springs was arrested Friday night after the 2010 GMC he was driving was pulled over on Springs-Fireplace Road near Spinner Lane in East Hampton. Police said the vehicle had only one working headlight and was swerving across the road. He refused to take the breath test at headquarters, leading Justice Tekulsky to inform him during arraignment Saturday morning that his license was suspended for a year. He was released without having to post bail, because of his ties to the community.
A Montauk man, Peter G. Merritt, was charged with drunken driving as a misdemeanor after being pulled over on Old Montauk Highway in the hamlet on the night of Dec. 5. Police said his 2013 Jeep had been swerving across the double yellow line. At headquarters, his breath test produced a reading of .12 of 1 percent, police reported. He was released the next morning without having to post bail, but with a place on East Hampton Town Justice Court’s criminal calendar.