Those Were Not Your Houses

In East Hampton Town Justice Court on Friday, Samuel A. Diss, 25, of Quincy, Mass., told Justice Lisa R. Rana that he and several old friends from college had rented a house for the weekend somewhere in Montauk.

At about 4:30 that morning, he forced his way into a house on North Greenwich Street through a basement door, damaging the hinges. It was the wrong house, and the homeowner called police. Mr. Diss was charged with two misdemeanors, trespassing and criminal mischief.

“Does anybody know you’ve been arrested?” Justice Rana asked. “You’re going to have to call someone.” She set bail at $200, which was later posted.

Alexander B. Rich of Manhattan was arrested at about 5 a.m. Sunday, the day after his 26th birthday, on a felony charge of criminal mischief. East Hampton Town police said he had smashed a window of a house on Falcon Place, Montauk, and broken the legs off a deck bench and several chairs.

“My friend’s father owns this house,” he reportedly told the arresting officers. “I’ve been trying to break into this house for the last two hours.”

Justice Steven Tekulsky arraigned him later that morning. Before the arraignment, he could be heard in a side room, talking to his mother. Justice Tekulsky asked several times that he end the conversation, in order to proceed. “It is what it is, Mom,” Mr. Rich said as he hung up.

“When the judge tells you to hang up, you hang up,” Justice Tekulsky told the man as he was led in to court. The back of his shirt was coated with what looked like bloodstains. At one point he turned around and stared at two reporters seated in the courtroom, who were taking notes. Justice Tekulsky told him to face forward. “Is this normal procedure?” he asked.

“The court is a public place,” Justice Tekulsky answered. He asked if Mr. Rich was going to hire a lawyer.

“My father is going to be my lawyer.” His father is Charles Rich, a partner in the New York real estate law firm Rottenberg Lippman Rich.

Justice Tekulsky set bail at $500, and told Mr. Rich to be back in court today, at 9:30 sharp. “Is there a weekend option?” Mr. Rich asked.

“We’re not here for your convenience,” Justice Tekulsky responded.

“Can we make it earlier, eight o’clock?” Mr. Rich persisted.

  “Once again, you seem to be interested in your schedule. You’re not the only defendant on the calendar.”

Bail was posted at police headquarters.

East Hampton Village police were called to the Blue Parrot on Friday night, where a man at the bar was said to be drunk and disruptive. When an officer arrived, the bouncer had already escorted Eddy Espinoza-Espinoza, 32, an East Hampton Village resident, to the street. The officer said Mr. Espinoza appeared intoxicated. He was trying to help him call a taxi, when, he reported, Mr. Espinoza, in plain sight of the many pedestrians on Main Street, began urinating on a sidewalk shrub. He was charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor, as well as disorderly conduct, and spent the rest of the night in a cell before being released, without bail, but with a future date in court.