John J. Jara has been convicted twice within the past 10 years pf driving while intoxicated, meaning that his arrest last Thursday night on the same charge rose to the level of a felony.
Mr. Jara, 32, of Kent Place in East Hampton, was charged after crashing his 2007 Toyota pickup truck, which was heavily damaged, on Abraham's Path near Town Lane in Amagansett at 10:05 p.m. He told police he'd dropped some food he was eating, causing him to lose control of the truck and strike a tree and a fence. According to the arrest report, his breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were red, he was unsteady on his feet, and his speech was slurred. At town police headquarters in Wainscott, Mr. Jara agreed to a blood test, the results of which were not available as of press time. His truck was impounded.
His prior D.W.I. convictions, according to court records, were in December 2011 and February 2019. If convicted of the new charge, he faces up to seven years in jail, a fine of up to $10,000, and a driver's license revocation of at least 18 months. He was to be arraigned this morning by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.
At 6:48 p.m. on Saturday, town police received a call of an erratic driver on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, not far from Abraham's Path, where an officer later caught up with Chakese J. Harris, 37, of the Bronx. He was pulled over after swerving into oncoming traffic, police said, and did poorly on sobriety tests.
Mr. Harris was charged with first-offense D.W.I., a misdemeanor, and with aggravated D.W.I., also a misdemeanor, after a chemical test showed his blood-alcohol content was .18 of 1 percent or higher. The legal limit is .08. He was arraigned by Justice Rana on Sunday and will be back in court on Sept. 23. C.S.