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Three Fences, Two Flowerpots

Wed, 09/14/2022 - 15:21

Seven men, all of them in their 30s or 40s, were charged last week with drunken driving.

East Hampton Village police stopped Agustin Reyes-Garcia of Southampton, 44, on Sept. 6, in the eastbound lane on Main Street, after spotting a flat tire and damaged front rim on his 2009 GMC Sierra pickup truck. He appeared intoxicated, they said, and eventually consented to a chemical breath test, which resulted in two charges of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. Police then ascertained that Mr. Reyes-Garcia had been in two car accidents earlier that night, one in the Main Beach parking lot, where his truck hit a fence, a flowerpot, a bench, another flowerpot, and another fence; and the other on Woods Lane, where it knocked down two state highway signs and yet a third fence. The GMC was towed and impounded.

Claudio Vizhnay-Coraisaca, 30, of Springs, was southbound on Springs-Fireplace Road near Fort Pond Boulevard early Friday evening when East Hampton Town police said they saw his 2015 Chevrolet tailgating another vehicle and weaving into the oncoming lane. He was stopped, performed poorly on field sobriety tests, and was charged with a single misdemeanor count of drunken driving.

Oscar Bolanos-Cardoza of Stamford, Conn., 33, was charged with two D.W.I. misdemeanors late Friday night after town police stopped his 2002 Ford on Montauk Highway near Daniel’s Hole Road. Police smelled alcohol, and Mr. Bolanos-Cardoza consented to the roadside tests, leading to the charges.

Back in the village in the early hours of Sept. 6, Russell Barone of Patchogue, 34, was under police surveillance on Pantigo Road near Egypt Lane after allegedly committing numerous driving infractions. Police caught up with his 2011 Jeep Cherokee at the end of Pleasant Lane, and allegedly found an open can of Montauk Hard Seltzer in the car. Mr. Barone, who was charged with two D.W.I. misdemeanors and 10 violations for the traffic infractions, was held overnight for a morning arraignment. 

Ray Freeman, a 31-year-old from East Hampton, driving a 2015 Mercedes-Benz on Town Lane near Abraham’s Path in Amagansett early on the morning of Sept. 6, was clocked at 50 miles per hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone, according to town police, who said he had also driven through a stop sign. He faces two counts of drunken driving.

Victor Udavevillalpando of Hampton Bays, at 46 the oldest of those charged, was pulled over on Sept. 4 shortly after midnight when police reported seeing his 2008 Saturn swerving across the yellow lines on Hand’s Creek Road, near Springy Banks Road in Northwest. He consented to a field sobriety test and was eventually charged with two counts of D.W.I., both misdemeanors.

Earlier in the month, on Sept. 1, William Quintanilla of Medford, drove a rental truck into ladders attached to the roof of a 2021 Mercedes-Benz van parked in the Brent’s Store lot off Montauk Highway in Amagansett, police reported. Mr. Quintanilla damaged the roof of the Mercedes, according to the report, as he tried to extract his vehicle from the ladders, and then left the scene. He was pulled over shortly after and charged with driving while impaired.

East Hampton Ambulance Department Gets County Nod

The Suffolk County Regional Emergency Services Council voted on March 12 to expand the operating territory of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Department to include the Northwest Fire Protection District and the East Hampton Water Supply Area. This came after a contentious public hearing at LTV Studios on Feb. 16.

Mar 21, 2024

On the Police Logs 03.21.24

A 37-year-old Montauk man attempted to make a fire in a barrel at the Montauk Skate Park to "grill some burgers while he and friends skated" on the afternoon of March 13. Someone called the police, who told the man it was against the rules. He apologized and put the fire out.

Mar 21, 2024

Policing East Hampton in 2023: A Look at the Statistics

In 2023, for 911 calls classified as "highest priority," the East Hampton Town Police Department's average response time was 5 minutes, 38 seconds. Officers made 163 drunken-driving arrests, assisted on 2,530 medical calls and nearly 1,800 fire-related emergencies, and logged 12 "use of force" incidents over the 12-month period. Those were just a few of the statistics presented by Chief Michael Sarlo to the East Hampton Town Board last week, capping off a year of protecting 70 square miles from Wainscott to Montauk.

Mar 21, 2024

Sexual Assault Investigation

A 29-year-old East Hampton woman went to police headquarters on March 4 to report being the victim of sexual assault, stemming from an incident on Feb. 23 at a house in town.

Mar 13, 2024

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