Man Chooses to Go to Jail

East Hampton Town police picked up a taxi driver in Shirley early last Thursday and gave him a ride to Wainscott police headquarters, from which he ultimately was sent to county jail. The police made the trip after learning that Mr. Williams had been arrested by Suffolk County police on an unrelated charge last week.

Sherwood Williams, 58, of Mastic, had been arrested outside Sloppy Tuna, a hot spot at South Emerson Avenue in Montauk in August last year, charged with driving a taxi with too many passengers. In October, he pleaded guilty and was fined $250 by then East Hampton Town Justice Catherine A. Cahill. He was given 90 days to pay up. In January, when he still had failed to pay, he was given an extension. On the next due date, March 5, he sent the court an email asking for more time.

“I am a taxi driver without a job right now. P.S. I should be working any day now,” he wrote. Mr. Williams was given until March 24, which again was extended, this time until April 21. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest when neither payment nor Mr. Williams showed up.

In court last Thursday, Justice Steven Tekulsky said he was going to set bail at $150. He then gave Mr. Williams a choice: If he was unable to post bail, he could go to jail for 10 days, with the outstanding fine cancelled. Mr. Williams spoke briefly with his Legal Aid Society attorney. “Bail, or jail?” Justice Tekulsky asked. “Do you wish to be resentenced at this time to 10 days in jail?”

The answer was “yes,” the sentence was pronounced, and Mr. Williams was later taken to jail in Riverside, where he remained as of yesterday. He is unlikely to be released, even after his time served, because of open cases in Suffolk County. The bail required for his release on the Suffolk cases is $1,050.