Cocaine Arrest Among Arraignments

A Bridgehampton attorney was charged with driving while high on cocaine early on Columbus Day morning. According to East Hampton Town police, Randall Randy Culpepper, 62, driving a 2013 Audi, was pulled over on Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton because he was driving erratically and crossing hazard markings. The arresting officer said Mr. Culpepper had what looked like white powder around his mouth and nose. Asked if the powder was a narcotic, he allegedly replied, “I did cocaine back; I did one bump.”

At headquarters after his arrest, police said he refused to have blood drawn to test for cocaine. He was released after his arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court the next morning without having to post bail. 

Two drivers involved in minor accidents on Saturday were arraigned in Justice Court on Sunday on charges of misdemeanor drunken driving. Julio C. Mendoza of Springs, 42, was arrested after a police officer responded to a report of an accident in the parking lot of the I.G.A. supermarket on North Main Street a little after 5 p.m. The Mercedes Benz he was driving had struck a parked 2007 Jeep there, police said. “I was driving to work, and when I parked I hit her car, but there was nothing, no damage, just a scratch,” he reportedly told the investigating officer. “I have to get to work.”

The officer, however, said Mr. Mendoza appeared to be drunk and failed sobriety tests. At headquarters, a breath test produced a reading of .25 of 1 percent, over three times the legal limit, and well over the .18 reading that raises the charge to the aggravated level. 

Mr. Mendoza was held overnight and arraigned the next morning in front of Justice Lisa R. Rana. In addition to drunken driving, he was charged with unlicensed driving. He told the court he had lived in East Hampton for 21 years, and was released without having to post bail. 

The other driver arraigned Sunday morning after being arrested Saturday was Julio C. Mejia-Otavalo, 50, of Southampton. He was driving a 2007 Dodge on East Hampton Main Street near the Ladies Village Improvement Society property when he allegedly tried to change lanes and glanced the side of a 2014 Toyota headed in the same direction. He did not pull over, police said, until a village police officer put on his emergency lights.  

His breath test produced a reading of .16,  police said. He had lived in East Hampton for 12 years, he told the court through Carl Irace, an attorney on hand for weekend arraignments, before moving briefly to New Mexico, then to Southampton. With strong ties to the area, he was also released without bail.

Village police arrested Juan D. Martinez-Gaytan, 25, of Bridgehampton on Friday night after they received a call reporting that a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse was being driven erratically on Montauk Highway in East Hampton near Stephen Hand’s Path, headed east. An officer spotted the car on Main Street and began following it, pulling it over, police said, after it made an erratic turn onto Accabonac Road. His breath test reportedly produced a reading of .12.

In court Saturday morning, Justice Rana said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might have put a hold on Mr. Martinez-Gaytan, and she set bail at $200. However, the officer guarding him said police had been trying without success to reach ICE. “They’re not answering the phone, so we will release him.” 

Joy E. Heslinga, 37, of Montauk was pulled over and eventually charged with driving while intoxicated early Friday morning. East Hampton Town police said that while driving a 2013 Chevrolet on West Lake Drive in the Montauk dock area, the car was moving at 45 miles per hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone. Her Breathalyzer reading was .13. She was released without bail after being arraigned, but with a future date on Justice Rana’s criminal calendar.