East Hampton Village police charged an 18-year-old from New York City with misdemeanor drunken driving on Saturday night, plus a laundry list of other misdoings.
The incident began when the 18-year-old, whose name was withheld by police, drove his 2015 BMW through a stop sign at the intersection of David's and Egypt Lanes, and on through another sign at Egypt and Further Lanes. Police said he was speeding as he went, without tail lights, and struck a directional sign and a split-rail fence before being pulled over.
The young man told police he was coming from a restaurant and "heading to a friend's house in Amagansett." He appeared intoxicated, admitted to drinking two White Claws, and failed roadside sobriety tests, according to the report. Afterward, he handed over a driver's license, telling the officer, "That's my fake I.D," thus adding a felony charge of forgery to the misdemeanor.
Town police, too, reported just one alcohol-related arrest last week. Around 11 p.m. on July 7, on Springs-Fireplace Road near Floyd Street in East Hampton, Carlos Pacho-Gutama's 2004 Acura was spotted swerving back and forth out of its lane, they said. The driver, who lives on Glade Road in Springs, was taken back to headquarters after failing the field tests, where a Breathalyzer test reportedly produced a blood-alcohol reading over twice the legal limit. Mr. Pacho-Gutama, 27, spent the night in police custody and was arraigned for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in East Hampton Justice Court in the morning.
Also on local roads last week, town police responded to a single accident with a report of injuries. Last Thursday afternoon, Hannah Bontempo, 27, of Westerly, R.I., was driving a 2018 Jeep on Two Holes of Water Road near Joshua's Path in Northwest when, she told police, she looked down at her radio and swerved into the opposite lane, hitting an oncoming 2003 Honda Sedan. Its driver, another Rhode Islander, Kyle Rathbun, 21, of North Providence, suffered facial cuts and was taken by East Hampton ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for treatment. Both cars were towed from the scene; the Honda by Hammer Towing and the Jeep by V&V Auto Services Center.
