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Three Drivers Face Charges

Thu, 03/02/2023 - 10:33

David Contreras-Galarza, 23, was driving a 2009 Toyota on Accabonac Road near Abraham’s Path in East Hampton Saturday night just before 10 when he was involved in a “reportable motor vehicle accident.”

The town police report did not give particulars, but officers said that Mr. Contreras-Galarza was found standing outside his vehicle with “bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.” He did not perform to their satisfaction on a roadside sobriety test, they said, and was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, a first offense. A second misdemeanor was added for allegedly driving with a blood alcohol content of greater than .08 of 1 percent.

Jose Velasquez of Riverhead, 57, was hit last Thursday with two felony charges, police said, for driving while highly intoxicated and with a recent prior D.W.I. His 2020 Dodge Ram was pulled over on Springs-Fireplace Road near Jackson Avenue in East Hampton after crossing the double-yellow lane divider “several times,” according to the report.

He allegedly failed the field tests and was later determined to have a blood alcohol content of greater than .08 of 1 percent. Mr. Velasquez was convicted of drunken driving in 2019, police determined.

Also charged with two alcohol-related misdemeanors was Edras Gomez-Tellez of East Hampton, 37, whose Ford Suburban was stopped on Route 114 near Stonewall Court on the evening of Feb. 22. The Ford had crossed the double-yellow line “multiple times,” police said, and also swerved onto the shoulder and failed to maintain its lane.

Mr. Gomez-Tellez, after failing the sobriety tests, was charged with the two D.W.I. offenses.

Sentenced in P.T.A. Theft

Hope Livingston, a former Sag Harbor P.T.A. treasurer, was sentenced to five years of probation and restitution after pleading guilty to third-degree grand larceny and agreeing to a plea deal with county prosecutors. 

Oct 8, 2026

Brooklyn Woman Now in Double Trouble

A woman who is already in legal hot water with East Hampton Village seems to have found herself in more of it after a new arrest last Thursday.

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Second Guilty Plea in Building Department Bribery Case

Ryan Benitez, a former East Hampton Town building inspector, admitted Thursday to accepting bribes in exchange for expediting building permits and certificates of occupancy in 2024 and early 2025.

Oct 1, 2026

Former Building Department Employee Pleads Guilty to Taking Bribes

Six months after her arrest, Evelyn Calderon, formerly of the East Hampton Town Building Department, took a deal in a Riverhead court Wednesday, pleading guilty to 10 counts of bribery and official misconduct. She was sentenced to 840 hours of community service, five years of probation, and a $29,200 fine. 

Oct 1, 2026

 

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