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The Man With Three Names

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 06:39

A Springs man who gave police two different names in recent years following arrests for drunken driving was charged again on Saturday, and this time his fingerprints betrayed him.

East Hampton Town police said Jimmy Baculima-Guanolique — or Patricio Verrezueta-Orllona, or Pedro Gonzalez-Brito — disappeared after the Southampton arrests, both in the summer of 2012, and two arrest warrants were issued.

After stopping his 2004 Nissan Xterra for failure to signal a turn from Hartley Boulevard onto Elvira Street in Springs, police administered sobriety tests, which the driver reportedly failed. He initially identified himself as Verrezueta-Orllona, even after being told that if that were not his name, he would be charged with a misdemeanor, which he later was, along with felony unlicensed driving.

His fingerprints were routinely taken and sent to the F.B.I.’s National Crime Information Center. What came back from the bureau was not only the warrants out of Southampton, but differing dates of birth, ranging from 28 years old to 31.

At Wainscott headquarters, police said, a breath test produced a reading of .11. The man would normally have been arraigned on Sunday morning, but was held until Monday while police tried to untangle the mystery of his identity. Finally the department determined, as best it could, that his name was Jimmy Baculima-Guanolique.

According to East Hampton Justice Court files, a person by that name has at least half a dozen open moving violations, as well as a misdemeanor charge of unlicensed driving.

On Monday, the man was brought before Justice Lisa R. Rana, who reviewed his record for some time. Robert Savage, his attorney, told the court that his client’s wife was in the courtroom and that he has two children, aged 2 and 4. He has lived in East Hampton for nine years, Mr. Savage said.

Bail was set at $5,000, but even if it is posted, the man with three names will not be going anywhere but the county jail, because of the outstanding warrants. Yesterday, he was taken to Southampton Town Justice Court for arraignment on the warrants, and then back to Riverside.

In East Hampton Village on Saturday night, police stopped Mary Kathleen Tedesco’s 1990 Toyota on Pantigo Road for driving without headlights. Back at Cedar Street headquarters, Ms. Tedesco, 48, of Brooklyn, was found to have a prior arrest on the same charge of misdemeanor drunken driving, after which her license was suspended, resulting in an unlicensed-driving charge this time at the felony level.

Justice Rana noted a number of other suspensions on the woman’s record unrelated to alcohol, from failure to complete a drinking-and-driving program to failure to answer a summons. “You have a significant history,” Justice Rana said, as she set bail at $1,000, which was posted.

On Tuesday, Justice Rana was seated in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court, where she was adjudicating a civil matter, when East Hampton Town police brought in Alfred E. Behar, 39, whom they had arrested in Montauk earlier that morning. Mr. Behar’s breath test, police said, had produced a reading of .16.

Mr. Behar told the court through his attorney, Wendy Russo of the Legal Aid Society, that he had moved to Hampton Bays last month from Miami Beach, and intended to make that hamlet his permanent home.

Ms. Russo asked that he be released without bail, saying he was not a flight risk. “I see a bit of a criminal history here,” Justice Rana said. “You served some time in Pennsylvania,” on a felony conviction, the nature of which was not clear. She also noted a drunken-driving arrest in Florida.

“He’s a hard-working guy,” Ms. Russo said. “He’s embarrassed.” “You’re going to have to get over that,” Justice Rana told the man. “There is nothing to stop you from getting on a plane or a train and going back to Florida.” She initially set bail at $1,000, but agreed to lower it to $500 after Ms. Russo told her that was all he had with him.

A Montauk woman driving a 2015 Toyota pickup slammed into a parked 2008 Ford Suburban on Montauk Highway near South Emery Street around midnight Sunday, and later told police she had taken her eyes off the road for a moment. Heather P. King, 34, said she was looking down at something when the truck veered off the road. She was unhurt, but the front of the Toyota had major damage, as did the rear of the Ford.

Arrested after failing field sobriety tests, Ms. King took the breath test at headquarters, with a reading of .13, police said. During her arraignment Monday morning, Justice Rana warned her that she was suspending her license. “You cannot drive,” she told her. “My car is wrecked,” Ms. King replied.

Two Manhattan men who live a few blocks from each other in Chelsea met for the first time on Sunday night after being arrested in downtown Montauk. Cory P. Martin, 29, and David Wendell Black, 41, each refused to take the breath test at headquarters, police said. Justice Rana told each man that their licenses were suspended for the next year because of the refusal.

Mr. Black refused to get out of his 2017 Jeep, police said, after being pulled over on Second House Road for driving without headlights. When officers tried to remove him from the car, he grabbed the steering wheel, tensing his body and refusing to let go, according to the report. That earned him a second charge of resisting arrest.

Mr. Martin’s 2016 Land Rover was stopped by the Plaza after he failed to signal the turn from Edgemere Street, police said. He was additionally charged with unlicensed driving; police said his license had been suspended in Brooklyn for failure to answer a summons in Brooklyn. Both men were released after posting $500 bail.

Heidi Jasemine Ayala of Montauk, 23, was charged early Saturday morning after police stopped her 2006 Honda on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett; she reportedly failed to dim its headlights for an oncoming patrol car. She was released without bail, as was Leidi J. Mendes, 30, of Bridgehampton. Ms. Mendes, who was arrested Saturday night, had the lowest reading of the week, .09.

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