Smashed Car Mirror May Be Cause for Deportation

Luis Eduardo Valladares, also known to Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents as Luis Eduardo Valladares Arias, is being held in county jail after being arrested last Thursday on charges of criminal contempt for allegedly violating a court order of protection in place for his wife, as well as criminal mischief for reportedly smashing her S.U.V.’s driver’s-side mirror the night before. Both charges are at the misdemeanor level.

Bail was set at $1,000. However, even if that amount is posted, it is unlikely that Mr. Valladares would be freed, because ICE has issued a detainer for him. The document, marked “urgent” by ICE and received by East Hampton Village, is on file at East Hampton Town Justice Court. It states that he is subject to “a final order [of removal] by an immigration judge in exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings.”

Police said that Mr. Valladares, who is from Ecuador, was supposed to pick up his two daughters from his wife, from whom he is separated, in a meeting monitored by a social worker at Fierro’s Pizza in East Hampton. An order of protection had been issued for the woman, whose name was withheld by police, in family court in Riverside in May. While the social worker was watching the children in the pizza parlor, he allegedly followed his wife into the Reutershan parking lot as she approached her car, a 2011 Ford Expedition. When she locked herself in the car, he reportedly punched the mirror, smashing it.

“We were arguing about stuff, and I got mad and punched the mirror,” he reportedly told police. 

Whether the allegations are true or not may be irrelevant: The mere suspicion of committing a crime can trigger final deportation.

Hollis Westin Forbes was taken into court in handcuffs last Thursday, accused by East Hampton Village police of hosting an under-age drinking party in late July. Her husband, James Dean Forbes, had originally been charged under the county’s social-host law, but after an investigation by the district attorney’s office, it was determined that Ms. Forbes, who is the president of the East Hampton Historical Society board of trustees, was the one responsible for providing alcohol to a large number of under-age drinkers at a house party.

When she was brought from the holding area to be arraigned, however, her handcuffs were off. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky beckoned the attending East Hampton Village officer to the bench, asking, “Why is this defendant not in handcuffs?” Handcuffs were quickly put back onto Ms. Forbes’s wrists, and she was arraigned on the misdemeanor charge and released without bail, but with a date on Justice Tekulsky’s calendar. 

A sign on the door through which all prisoners are ushered states, “All prisoners must be handcuffed.”

Jonathon Miceli was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing governmental administration on Monday night. Mr. Miceli, who turns 35 next week, was a passenger in a car that was pulled over near his residence in Montauk. Police had asked the driver, who ultimately was not arrested, to perform roadside sobriety tests. At the same time, they asked Mr. Miceli to remain in the car. He, however, kept getting out of the car, interfering with the officer conducting the tests, leading to the charge. He was released the next morning, following his arraignment in East Hampton, having posted $250 bail.

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Correction: An earlier headline incorrectly referred to a smashed car mirror as leading to a potential deportation. As stated in the article, it was the car's driver's-side mirror, not a window that had been smashed.