D.W.I.s : Route 114 to Montauk

An East Hampton man was arrested on drunken driving charges after the Toyota he was driving crashed into one of the Jewish cemeteries in Sag Harbor last Thursday. 

According to East Hampton Town police, Jose Alberto Tovar Lam, 37, was driving a 2007 Toyota sedan south on Route 114, near Lincoln Street, at 12:38 a.m. Police said the car went off the road, hit a fence and numerous trees and a concrete building, ultimately coming to a stop on top of a headstone in Chevra Kodetia, Temple Adas Israel’s cemetery. He told police he had swerved to avoid a deer. 

According to the accident report, an officer found him in the driver’s seat and, though he had been injured, he was not taken to the hospital. No one else was in the car, which was owned by Thapanee Poung-Ngern of East Hampton. 

Mr. Lam performed poorly on field sobriety tests, police said, and was arrested at 1:04 a.m. Charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and two traffic infractions, he was released on his own recognizance following arraignment before East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky.  

A 24-year-old Manhattan man driving a 2014 Porsche was charged with D.W.I. after allegedly hitting a taxi in Montauk and driving off in the early morning hours Sunday. Police said Nicholas John Ferguson was making a right turn onto South Eton Street from South Emerson at a high rate of speed when he struck a 2004 Honda traveling south on South Eton Street. It was 1:53 a.m. and he kept driving, they said. 

An officer spotted him shortly afterward, when he failed to stop at the sign on South Eton and turned west onto Montauk Highway. The officer, who said Mr. Ferguson also failed to signal, later discovered the car had been involved in an accident. Mr. Ferguson was not injured, nor were his two passengers, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, both misdemeanors.

Meanwhile, the other driver in the accident, Mohammad T. Islam, 39, of Mastic complained of head, neck, and leg pain. The Montauk Fire Department ambulance took him to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. His two passengers were not injured. 

Justice Lisa R. Rana arraigned Mr. Ferguson later on Sunday. He was released on $3,000 cash bail. Carl Irace, who represented him at the arraignment, said, “He denies the allegations and looks forward to having his day in court to defend against these charges.”

Other D.W.I. arrests reported this week included that of Shawn M. Hewitt, 48, of Woodside. Police said he was driving drunk on Industrial Road in Montauk on June 13 at about 11:35 p.m. An officer pulled him over after he failed to dim the high beams on his 2007 Chevrolet for oncoming traffic and caused “a dangerous glare,” according to the report. Charged with misdemeanor D.W.I., Justice Tekulsky arraigned him last Thursday morning. He was released on $2,000 cash bail. 

Milton A. Barrecho-Chillpi, 28, of East Hampton was arrested on a misdemeanor driving-while-intoxicated charge after police saw his 2010 Toyota Corolla swerving and then going off the road on Muir Boulevard on Sunday at around 2:20 a.m. Twenty minutes later, he was in handcuffs. Justice Rana arraigned him later that day; he was released on $200 bail. 

Police also made a D.W.I. arrest after they saw a 2017 Nissan with Pennsylvania plates swerving on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, near Malple Lane, on the evening of June 10. They pulled over the driver at about 8:20 p.m. Ryan Rose Washburn, 36, of Manhattan was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and held overnight for arraignment. Justice Rana released him on $500 bail.