Wilkin Delossantos of the Bronx, 29, was charged in the Village of East Hampton this week with leaving the scene of an accident, as well as unlicensed operation of a vehicle. On the afternoon of Sept. 21, according to village police, he was driving a 2020 Mitsubishi on Montauk Highway near Green Hollow Road when he entered the oncoming lane and sideswiped a 2019 BMW driven by Eddie Abrams of Flushing, 77, who sustained a small laceration to his arm from broken glass.
Mr. Delossantos allegedly continued on without stopping or reporting the incident. Police caught up with him a few hours later, aided by witnesses' description of the Mitsubishi.
Mr. Delossantos claimed he'd drifted across the double yellow line because he was "being followed." He was looking behind him, he said, when he hit Mr. Abrams's mirror. With an invalid license and a 2017 suspension for failure to pay child support, he was released in his own recognizance to appear in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Wednesday.
Police also found a warrant for his arrest in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, on a charge of possessing "dangerous drugs;" that information was forwarded to the proper authorities.
A bench warrant for the arrest of Victoria Philips, a resident of East 78th Street in Manhattan, was executed on the morning of Sept. 21 at 395 Pantigo Road, vacant land recently purchased by the town. Police were on the property to assist the building and fire inspectors when a plumbing truck was noted in the driveway. When an officer made contact with Ms. Philips, a computer check pulled up three East Hampton Justice Court warrants from 2002; one for "resisting officer," another for violating probation, the third for resisting another officer. Ms. Philips was transported to town police headquarters in Wainscott for a video arraignment and later posted cash bail of $500.
Four drivers will appear before Justice Lisa R. Rana in Sag Harbor Justice Court tomorrow after being arrested in that village, all of them charged with suspended registration. They are Josephine Minutillo, 47, of East Hampton, Victor Licona De La Cruz, 35, of Hampton Bays, David Tischer, 66, of Sea Cliff, and Allan Furst, 74, of Sag Harbor. In all cases, police license-plate scanners were used.
Two more traffic arrests in Montauk and Amagansett capped off the week. Last Thursday night, Gregory Mertsalova, 25, of Brooklyn, was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation after being stopped on Montauk Highway near South Edison Street. On Sept. 22, Odinas Saldana-Galarza of Hampton Bays, 54, was similarly charged; he was stopped on Abraham's Path near Accabonac Road. Both men will appear in court here on Wednesday.