Sweep Nets Drivers From All Walks of Life

Police from across the county were on the lookout for drunken drivers over the weekend, and made five arrests in East Hampton Town. Even without the sweep, there were several other arrests on drunken-driving charges throughout the week.

A little after midnight last Thursday, Kathleen A. Costine of Manhattan, 67, a former managing director with the Royal Bank of Canada, was driving a 2002 Lexus on Hawk’s Nest Lane in Amagansett when, she told police, she “hit something in the roadway.” The Lexus veered off the road into trees and underbrush. Soon after she managed to climb out, the car burst into flames.

Ms. Costine reportedly failed roadside sobriety tests, and was taken to Wainscott police headquarters, where a breath test was said to have produced a blood-alcohol reading of 0.16, twice the 0.08 number that defines intoxication. The Amagansett Fire Department was called in and doused the fire.

During her arraignment the next morning, she told East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky that she has owned a house in Amagansett for many years. He allowed her to be released without bail but with a future date on his criminal calendar.

Another arrest in Amagansett happened early Sunday morning. Christian A. Rec, 28, driving a 2014 Jeep, was stopped after failing to signal a turn off Montauk Highway, police said, and refused to take the breath test back at headquarters.

Mr. Rec told Justice Lisa R. Rana later that day that he was a private chef who flies around the country with the family he works for. He did not identify them, either in court or on his Facebook page, which displays images of a private twin-engine jet. He told Justice Rana he was due to return to West Palm Beach, Fla., with the family, which also owns a house in Amagansett, in five days.

“You’re going to need to post some bail,” Justice Rana said, noting that he appeared to have been charged in Florida at one point with a felony, though the disposition of that case was not clear. She set bail at $1,000. “If you don’t make the bail, you’re going to go to jail,” she said. “Call the family.”

Saturday night’s initiative brought eight additional officers into the town. They were from Riverhead, the county sheriff’s office, Shelter Island, and Southold, along with state troopers. “They focused primarily on Montauk last night, in our continued efforts to increase police presence in the hamlet,” said East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael D. Sarlo.

Mr. Rec was arrested during the anti-D.W.I. sweep, as was Jeanine M. Finnegan, 48, of East Islip, who was said by police to have stopped her 2010 Acura on South Emerson Avenue in Montauk, blocking traffic. She told Justice Rana she was a “wine rep.” Her 0.13 breath-test reading, though well above the legal limit, was relatively modest for the week, and she was released without bail.

Also freed on her own recognizance was Rolanda B. Stephanos, 35, of East Hampton Village, a real estate saleswoman. Town police said she was swerving across Montauk Highway lane lines early last Thursday morning before being pulled over. Ms. Stephanos apparently had words with the arresting officer, according to the police report. “I know it was stupid to drive, but I did nothing wrong,” she is quoted as saying, followed by, “I’m a local, and you’re ruining my life.”

Her blood-alcohol level was reported to be 0.19, high enough to trigger a raised charge of aggravated D.W.I.

Juan F. Naula of East Hampton, 45, a landscaper, faces the same raised charge after a reported reading of 0.21. Police said his southbound 1996 Toyota rear-ended a stopped 2005 Ford at the traffic light by Brent’s Store in Amagansett Saturday night. Mr. Naula was also charged with driving without a license and driving an uninsured vehicle. Bail was set at $500, which was posted.

Two drivers, according to police, had the 0.08 minimum reading that triggers the D.W.I. charge.

Peter G. Rodwick, 37, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., was arrested Friday night after allegedly driving a 2015 Jeep over a curb at the 7-Eleven parking lot in Montauk. A vice president at Highbridge Capital Management, a privately held hedge fund, he was released the next morning after posting $300 bail.

The other reading at the low end of the spectrum came Sunday night at East Hampton Village police headquarters on Cedar Street. Monica Encarnacion Vidal, driving a 2014 BMW, had committed several traffic infractions at the intersection of Main Street and Woods Lane, according to the village officer who pulled her over.

She presented a bit of a challenge for the court during her arraignment Monday afternoon: Where to send her mail? Her lawyer, Tad Scharfenberg, told the court that in her job as an investment manager, she splits her time between Madrid, Manhattan, and East Hampton Village. Her driver’s license was issued in Paris.

She was released without bail.

On the high end of the spectrum was the reported reading obtained by police from William D. Sherrill, 26, of Manhattan, at 0.22. He too is in the financial services industry.

In Montauk’s Culloden neighborhood early Saturday morning, a caller reported that a car had pulled into a driveway on Shadbush Road, barely missing the house, then pulled out and driven off. An officer found the car, a 2009 Jeep, around the corner, stopped in the middle of Beach Plum Road, engine running. Mr. Sherrill was sitting behind the wheel talking on his cell phone, police said. He was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Bail was set at $500, which was posted.

Yet another aggravated D.W.I. charge was made by town police on the evening of Aug. 10. Jorge L. Gomez, 29, of East Hampton, was unconscious, police said, when they found him behind the wheel of a 2013 Mercedes Benz on Miller Lane, East Hampton, with the engine running. Mr. Gomez, who told the court he was an architect, was released after posting $200 bail.

Sag Harbor Village police made one D.W.I. arrest, on Main Street in that village on Sunday afternoon. Danielle E. Fuller-DeNardo, 47, was parking a 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck, police said, when she struck the side bumper of the vehicle behind her, causing minor damage. She was released in the morning without bail, but with a future date on Sag Harbor Village Justice Rana’s calendar.

Finally, in Southampton Town, police reported the arrest of an East Hampton man, at a little after midnight Saturday. Edras Mendez Ventura, 21, was pulled over after police received several 911 calls of a Honda being driven erratically on Flanders Road.