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Had Three Prior Convictions

Thu, 06/23/2022 - 10:49

An East Hampton man with three prior driving-while-intoxicated convictions within the past 15 years was charged with felony D.W.I. on the afternoon of June 10.

David Weinzweig, 44, who was jailed following his appearance the next morning in East Hampton Justice Court, was eastbound in a 1997 Ford pickup truck on Buckskill Road near Stephen Hand’s Path, when a nearby town police officer heard a loud crash. The officer found the truck, which had no license plates, crashed against a telephone pole. Mr. Weinzweig was getting out from the driver’s side. When he spotted the officer he ran away, according to the report, despite being yelled at to stop multiple times.

He was stopped in his tracks by a fence, and the officer was able to bring him back to the scene of the accident. On the floorboard of his truck, police found an open bottle of alcohol, and reported that Mr. Weinzweig had failed the roadside sobriety tests.

The charge was raised to the felony level because of the three prior convictions. A misdemeanor charge was added because the truck was not equipped with an interlock device. Town Justice Steven Tekulsky arraigned the driver in the morning and remanded him to county jail. He is to be back in Justice Court on Wednesday.

Pedro Gonzales-Rojas, 40, blamed the backup camera in his 2018 black Ford pickup truck for a June 13 lunchtime accident in a public parking lot off Montauk Highway near Skimhampton Road, East Hampton. The camera “was wrong,” he told police, after backing into a parked car in the lot. The officer, however, reported smelling alcohol on his breath, and said he performed poorly on the field sobriety tests.

Mr. Gonzales-Rojas was subsequently charged with aggravated drunken driving after a breathalyzer test produced a blood-alcohol reading over .18 percent, more than twice the legal level. He was held for an appearance the next day before Justice Tekulsky, who released him on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on July 14.

Early on Friday morning, Marco Gutamapillco, 22, of Montauk, was charged with misdemeanor D.W.I. His 2014 blue Subaru S.U.V. had been southbound on Old Stone Highway in Springs when it veered off the road and into several trees. An officer found the driver next to the vehicle, which had flipped over onto the shoulder.

Mr. Gutamapillco’s speech was slurred, according to the report, and he was unsteady on his feet. He complained of neck pain, and was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which released him the next morning after treatment. He was arraigned yesterday

On the Police Logs 07.17.25

A man “with white hair and a blue jacket” took another patron’s phone during a movie at the Regal Cinema and said he would not return it. He later told police he’d taken the phone to “make a stand” because the owner was talking loudly on it during the movie.

Jul 17, 2025

Found With Coke in Cars

Two drivers were charged last week in unrelated cases with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after East Hampton Town police found bags containing a “white rock-like substance” in their vehicles.

Jul 17, 2025

Overturned by the Overlook

A Brooklyn man was arraigned recently on multiple misdemeanor charges related to a May 25 accident that injured four passengers in his Mercedes S.U.V., according to police.

Jul 17, 2025

Combs Verdict on Trafficking Is Examined

To Cate Carbonaro, executive director of the East Hampton advocacy organization the Retreat, who has worked extensively with victims of sex and labor trafficking as a public defender, the split verdict in the federal criminal trial of Sean (Diddy) Combs presents a “stark reminder of how far we still have to go” to educate both the courts and the public about what the “often misunderstood” charge of sex trafficking really means.

Jul 10, 2025

 

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