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Banker Charged With D.W.I

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 07:22



A traffic stop of a 2014 Aston-Martin late Saturday night led to the arrest of a former Citigroup chairman on a drunken-driving charge.

East Hampton Village police said Chad A. Leat, 58, who splits his time between New York and Bridgehampton, was clocked at 45 miles per hour on Main Street, where the speed limit is 30, when he passed a southbound patrol car. The officer followed Mr. Leat as he turned west onto Woods Lane, and said the Aston-Martin was alternately swerving across lane lines and tailgating another car.

Mr. Leat reportedly told the officer he had had two or three glasses of wine at the Palm restaurant. Police said he failed sobriety tests and was asked to take a roadside breath test, which produced a reading of .11 of 1 percent. A reading of .08 or higher leads to a charge of driving while intoxicated.

He was taken to police headquarters on Cedar Street, where he reportedly refused to take the Intoxilyzer 9000 breath test. He spent the remainder of the night in a holding cell.

Mr. Leat retired from Citigroup in 2013 as chairman and managing director, after 16 years with the bank, where he led its derivative financing and investments departments. In East Hampton Town Justice Court the morning after his arrest, he told Justice Lisa R. Rana he was self-employed. “I do advisory work,” he said. After he entered a not-guilty plea, Justice Rana ordered him released without bail, noting his connections to the community. He has owned a house on the South Fork for 17 years.

Mr. Leat is scheduled for a hearing Monday at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hauppauge, which may revoke his driver’s license for one year.

East Hampton Town police charged a Springs man with D.W.I. early Friday morning. They said they found Nestor Polivio Loja-Marca, 45, on Ocean Parkway East, East Hampton, half on the road, half in a driveway, passed out behind the wheel of a 2014 Toyota, engine running with the car in park. Back at Wainscott headquarters he took the Intoxilyzer test, which police said produced a reading of .25, high enough to raise the charge to aggravated drunken driving.

He was released later that morning after posting $200 bail.

 

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