Unlicensed Drivers Charged

Two Springs men, neither of them a licensed driver according to East Hampton Town police, were arraigned Sunday morning on several charges, including driving while intoxicated.

Luis A. Yamba-Tenezaca, 22, was additionally charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Police said he was backing his 2000 Pontiac sedan out of a busy residential driveway near the intersection of Three Mile Harbor Road and Muir Boulevard in Springs Sunday afternoon when the car struck the rear of a 2004 Toyota and he drove off without stopping.

The Toyota driver, with several passengers in the vehicle including two children, followed the Pontiac to the One-Stop Market on Springs-Fireplace Road and called police.

There, after reportedly failing roadside sobriety tests, Mr. Yamba-Tenezaca was placed under arrest. Back at police headquarters in Wainscott, his blood-alcohol level was said to be .17 of 1 percent.

In East Hampton Town Justice Court the next morning, Justice Steven Tekulsky read off the charges against him: “unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, no insurance, leaving the scene of an accident, and having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in the car,” in addition to the D.W.I. charge.

“Even though you don’t have a license and you were allegedly driving, and drunk, with a reading of .17, which is twice the legal limit,” Justice Tekulsky said, he was suspending Mr. Yamba-Tenezaca’s driving privileges. “You cannot drive.” The defendant, speaking through an interpreter, Ana Kestler, told the court he couldn’t remember where he lived because he had just moved, upon which Justice Tekulsky set bail at $500. “If you don’t know where you live, we don’t know where you live,” he said. Bail was later posted at police headquarters.

Earlier on Sunday, Manuel Jesus Maza-Zhuilema, 24, was also arrested on Springs-Fireplace Road. His alcohol level was said to be .21, triggering a more serious charge of aggravated drunken driving. Justice Tekulsky read off the charges. Besides D.W.I., police cited him on two counts of speeding, unsafe lane changes, driving out of lane, and having an open alcoholic beverage in the car. Four friends of Mr. Maza-Zhuilema were seated in the court during his arraignment.

Again, Justice Tekulsky warned the defendant that “you must not drive.” After Mr. Maza-Zhuilema gave his home address and phone number, bail was set at $300. “At least you know where you live,” the justice observed.

Southampton Town police arrested an East Hampton resident on a felony charge of drunken driving early Sunday morning. Sgt. Howard F. Kalb said Sunday that Frank J. Collado Garcia, who was convicted of misdemeanor D.W.I. in East Hampton in 2010, was pulled over for speeding and making an unsafe lane change on Country Road 39.

A D.W.I. charge becomes a felony if the driver has had a misdemeanor conviction for the same crime any time in the previous 10 years. Mr. Collado Garcia (there was some confusion between the police and the court over whether his name was Garcia Collado or the reverse) was arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court later that morning, with bail set at $1,500.

Initially unable to post that amount, he was taken to the county jail in Riverside, where he spent the next 24 hours. Bail was posted for him at the county jail the next day. He was due back in court yesterday.