Pole Crasher: I’m Drunk

Thomas Pazera, 49, of Sag Harbor was arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court Tuesday morning on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated drunken driving following an early morning accident on Route 114, near Plank Road in East Hampton. Mr. Pazera was headed north, driving well over the speed limit, according to the police report, when his 2013 Jeep missed a sharp curve, veered off the road, and knocked down a telephone pole, which fell onto the road. Route 114 was closed from Goodfriend Drive to Whooping Hollow Road for about 10 hours Tuesday as crews worked to repair the downed power lines.

Mr. Pazera, who did not require medical attention, told East Hampton Town police he could not recall what caused the accident. As he was being given roadside sobriety tests, he reportedly said, “I just want to tell you I am drunk.”

The Jeep sustained major front-end and frame damage and was towed away.

Back at police headquarters Mr. Pazera initially refused to take a breath test. “I don’t want to take the test. I will fail,” he told police. He consented, however, on their third request, and the machine reportedly produced a blood-alcohol reading of .26, over three times the legal limit. A reading of .18 triggers a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated.

He was released after his father posted the $500 bail set by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.

A Montauk man with a record of felonies was held briefly on $3,000 bail Sunday after being arrested that morning on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. Town police stopped Raymond W. Bimson’s 2011 Toyota Tundra on Flamingo Avenue, saying he had been speeding on West Lake Drive and had failed to signal the turn onto Flamingo. He was taken to Wainscott headquarters, where he refused to take the breath test.

Mr. Bimson, 34, has been convicted twice on felony charges, including a drug charge in Virginia. “Where are you living?” Justice Rana asked him at his arraignment later that morning. He gave a Second House Road address in response, adding that he had lived in Montauk “my whole life.”

“You were away for a while, right?” Justice Rana asked.

He acknowledged that he had served time in Virginia and was now on parole.

She noted that he had two prior D.W.I. convictions, both from 2003, one of which was a felony. “You grew up here, but you are not walking out this door without posting bail,” she said as she set the relatively high bail.

She asked if it would be posted. “I will just start doing my time, now,” Mr. Bimson answered. Bail was posted later that day, however. He is due back in court this morning.

Carlos Aguilar-Ullaguari of Sag Harbor, who was arrested by a New York State trooper on Sunrise Highway in Southampton on Sunday and charged with D.W.I., will be arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court on April 13, one day before he turns 36.