Booked Under Leandra’s Law

Manuel L. Tacuri-Inga of Springs, 54, faces two felony charges and a pair of less serious counts following his arrest on Feb. 2.

East Hampton Town police stopped Mr. Tacuri, as he is known in court documents, at about 6 p.m. on Springs-Fireplace Road in Springs, saying his 2005 Honda had crossed out of its lane several times. His son, who will be 14 this week, was in the passenger seat, and Mr. Tacuri was charged with driving while intoxicated with a minor in the car after he reportedly failed field sobriety tests.

The charge is a violation of Leandra’s Law, named for an 11-year-old who was killed in a car accident seven years ago. Under that state law, police are required to obtain a warrant allowing them to draw the driver’s blood, which was done. The results of the test are not yet known.

“I have a cold, so I drank Nyquil around three o’clock,” Mr. Tacuri told the arresting officer. Nyquil, an over-the-counter medication, can contain, in its various forms, alcohol, hypnotics, or sedating antihistamines.

Police also charged the man with felony unlicensed driving, endangering the welfare of a minor, and possession of a forged instrument, a fake Florida driver’s license. Records showed that his license was revoked in 1999 after a D.W.I. conviction, and again in 2003 for the same reason, and was never restored.

East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set high bail the next morning of $10,000. The court also issued a stay-away order of protection on behalf of the son, who was released to the custody of an unidentified woman, who reportedly posted the bail.

An Amagansett woman who was initially thought to have two road-related felony convictions on her record within the past decade, one for D.W.I. and the other for driving while on drugs, was sent to county jail on Feb. 3. Two such convictions in the past 10 years precluded the local court from setting bail.

Thanks to her lawyer, though, it was later determined that only one of the convictions was at the felony level, and Marie V. Hayden was released the next day on $5,000 bail.

Ms. Hayden, 56, was driving a 2007 Cadillac at about 4 a.m. on Amagansett Main Street when police pulled her over on a traffic infraction. According to the report, when asked to step out of the car “she leaned on the car to balance herself,” and when performing the sobriety test, “she almost fell down.”

Police said she had several prescription drugs in her possession, and charged her with operating a vehicle while on drugs and with unlicensed driving. She was also charged with driving without the required ignition interlock.

Her lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., went to the county records department later that day and determined that a violation of probation had caused legal confusion about her record. Last Thursday, Justice Tekulsky was able to set bail, which was posted at the jail.

Yet another person arrested on multiple felony charges was Vinicio A. Gutama of Springs, 39. Town police said he was driving a 2013 truck south on Springs-Fireplace Road in Springs on the evening of Feb. 3 when he began tailgating another vehicle. When it stopped, police said Mr. Gutama had to hit the brakes, leading to a “verbal dispute” with the other driver.

Mr. Gutama was charged with D.W.I. after reportedly failing field tests. Because he was convicted of aggravated drunken driving in 2007 at the misdemeanor level, the new charge is a felony, as is an unlicensed driving charge. He also was charged with driving an uninsured vehicle.

“I had two or three beers about an hour ago,” he told the arresting officer. His blood-alcohol test at headquarters produced a reported reading of 0.16, twice the legal limit.

Bail was set last Thursday morning at $3,000, which was posted.

Early Monday morning as snow began to fall, an officer stopped David B. Horne, 22, of Springs, once again on Springs-Fireplace Road. Mr. Horne’s 2001 Ford was said to be swerving back and forth, near Fort Pond Boulevard in Springs, on a flat tire.

“I’m not going to lie,” he told the officer. “I had a couple of beers, and I smoked some weed at a friend’s house.” The officer described him as “disoriented.”

At headquarters, Mr. Horne refused to take the breath test. He was charged with two misdemeanors, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs, and drunken driving. Arraigned at the height of the snowstorm, he was released without bail, but with a future date on Justice Tekulsky’s criminal calendar.

Also last week, Luis E. Morales of East Hampton, 44, was charged with D.W.I. Saturday night after being pulled over on a cul-de-sac off Two Holes of Water Road in East Hampton. Police said his breath test at headquarters produced a reading of 0.16. Bail was set the next morning at $500, which was posted.