Police Thankful for Quiet Holiday Roads

East Hampton Town police had a quiet Thanksgiving weekend on the roads, making three arrests from Nov. 23 until Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated. 

They arrested Kathryn E. Overton, 24, early Sunday morning. Police said the Springs resident had initially been pulled over on Old Fireplace Road in Springs in a 2007 Chevrolet for allegedly running a stop sign on Springs-Fireplace Road, as well as failing to signal two turns made before the stop. She was also charged with having an open container of alcohol in the car. Failing roadside sobriety tests, she was arrested and taken to headquarters in Wainscott. There, a breath test resulted in a .14 of 1 percent reading, which is well over the .08 that triggers a drunken driving charge. East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana held her for arraignment later that morning. Justice Rana said Ms. Overton had never been arrested before, and had a family member in the courtroom, Fred Overton, an East Hampton Town Board member. Noting her local residency, Justice Rana released her without bail, but with a future date on the criminal calendar.

There was one arraignment on Thanksgiving Day on D.W.I. charges. The night before, town police had pulled over Franklin Ortega-Zhunio, 31, a Springs resident, for allegedly swerving in a 2000 Toyota into the wrong lane as he turned from Spring Close Highway onto Montauk Highway in East Hampton. At police headquarters, his breath test came back with a .13 reading, police said. He was held overnight, and released the next morning after being arraigned and posting $350 bail.

An 18-year-old East Hampton High School graduate was arrested on drunken driving charges early on the morning of Nov. 23. Police said the man, whose name was withheld due to his eligibility for youthful offender status, was driving a 2001 BMW on Accabonac Road in East Hampton when he failed to dim his headlights for an oncoming car, which, it turned out, was a squad car.

Failing roadside sobriety tests, he was taken to headquarters, where a breath test produced a .14 reading. Now attending college, he was arraigned later Wednesday morning in front of Justice Rana. She set bail at $500, then admonished him to stay out of trouble. He apparently has had previous issues with the court and police. “You’re at a whole new level, here,” she warned.