Because of a previous conviction in the past 10 years, Ivan Morocho-Pucha of Springs was charged on Friday with felony drunken driving.
East Hampton Town police took note of his rented black 2011 Ford that night, which matched the description of a car involved in an unrelated incident, as he was driving along Springs-Fireplace Road. The car swerved across the double yellow lines as he turned into Abraham’s Path, police said, and then onto the shoulder before stopping. The driver was asked to perform roadside sobriety tests, which he reportedly failed.
Mr. Morocho-Pucha was held overnight for an appearance in the morning before Justice Steven Tekulsky. He faces an additional charge of driving without a required interlock device, which requires a driver to blow into a mouthpiece before the engine will start.
A minor whom police did not identify was also arrested in Springs over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon at the School Street intersection with Springs-Fireplace Road, the youth was seen exiting a gray 2019 Nissan Rogue that had hit a tree. He told police he’d been driving “at a high speed” east on Gardiner Avenue when the crash occurred, and showed the usual signs of intoxication, police reported. The car’s airbags deployed in the crash and the minor was treated at the scene for chest pain before being taken to Stony Brook-Southampton Hospital by East Hampton ambulance. He was released on his own recognizance after treatment, and appeared in court on Sunday morning to answer a charge of misdemeanor D.W.I.
At 1 a.m. last Thursday, Matthew Chaifetz of New York City, 38, was southbound on Sag Harbor Main Street in a gray 2014 Maserati when he crossed the double yellow lines. Sag village police pulled him over outside 40 Main Street and reported that he smelled of alcohol, had watery eyes, and was unsteady on his feet. After failing the field sobriety tests, he was arrested and held overnight on a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving, to await a morning appearance in court before Justice Lisa R. Rana.
