Christmas in County Jail

Two men spent Christmas Day in the county jail following their arrest on charges of domestic violence. One of them, Orlando J. Roberts, 34, faces a felony charge of contempt of court for violating an order of protection issued in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

 Lisada Machuca of Montauk, the holder of the protective order and the mother of his child, told East Hampton Town police she had been in contact with Mr. Roberts recently regarding their child. They agreed to meet on Dec. 23.

 Over the course of the morning, as Mr. Roberts’s arrival was delayed, Ms. Machuca changed her mind about seeing him. “I told him not to bother coming,” she told detectives. When Mr. Roberts, formerly of Montauk but now living in Hampton Bays, arrived, the two exchanged words. Ms. Machuca refused to let him into her apartment, and he went around to the side of the unit and climbed in through a window, she told police.

Panicked, she ran out to the street and dialed 911.

After being arrested on charges of trespassing, a misdemeanor, and felony contempt of court, he admitted having entered the apartment through the window, “with that O.P.”

“This is bad,” he went on to say, according to the police report. “I should have known better.”

He was arraigned in the late morning of Christmas Eve. Because he has previously pleaded guilty to violating Ms. Machuca’s five-year order of protection and has several other convictions as well, mostly on minor charges, the district attorney’s office asked that bail be set at $20,000.

Cynthia Darrell, the defendant’s Legal Aid Society lawyer, argued that that amount was excessive. Justice Lisa R. Rana agreed, to an extent, and set bail at $7,500. She asked Mr. Roberts if he would be able to post that amount, and he answered he would not.

After his arraignment he sat on the defendants’ bench, looking up occasionally as a second man faced similar charges. Miguel A. Mesa Santana, 43, had been living, until his arrest very early that morning, on Neck Path in Springs with Bienvenida Cehallos. That will now have to change, said Justice Rana, as she issued an order of protection for Ms. Cehallos. The two had allegedly argued over whether to turn a light on as Ms. Cehallos was doing laundry. She told police that Mr. Mesa Santana had pushed her to the floor, and, brandishing a kitchen knife, threatened to kill her if she turned the light on again.

He was charged with menacing with a weapon, a misdemeanor, and harassment, a violation. He asked the court what he should do if Ms. Cehallos tries to contact him. “If she calls you, you hang up the phone. You’re not to talk to her,” Justice Rana answered.

Ms. Darrell argued that the woman was the real aggressor. “She wants to see him incarcerated,” she said.

Justice Rana set bail at $1,000, an amount Mr. Mesa Santana said he could not immediately make.

Both defendants were taken back to police headquarters in Wainscott to await transportation to jail. On Christmas Eve, county sheriffs came for them.

Family members bailed out Mr. Mesa-Santana on Saturday. Mr. Roberts was released on Tuesday as per state law, no indictment against him having been handed down within the prescribed five