Labor Day weekend was “one of the busiest weekends we’ve ever had,” East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo told the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee on Saturday, with 17 arrests — including nine for driving while intoxicated — to go with 16 car accidents and 395 calls for help between Friday morning and Monday morning.
Among those arrested on charges of D.W.I. was Jose M. Guzmanhurtado of Southampton, whose charges rose to the felony level due to having two prior convictions within the past 10 years. On Sept. 1 at 12:30 a.m., police reported seeing him tailgating the car ahead and swerving out of his lane, prompting a traffic stop on Cedar Street near North Main Street in East Hampton.
Mr. Guzmanhurtado, 25, performed poorly on field sobriety tests and consented to a breath test, which registered a blood-alcohol content of more than .18 of 1 percent. The legal limit is .08. He was charged with felony counts of D.W.I. and aggravated D.W.I., plus a misdemeanor, failure to install a court-mandated interlock device in his vehicle, a 2008 Chrysler. He was held overnight; at his arraignment the next morning Town Justice Steven Tekulsky ordered supervised release for him, until his court date next Thursday.
The other eight counts in East Hampton Town over the holiday weekend were classified as misdemeanors.
Over in Southampton Town that weekend, police conducted a drunken-driving checkpoint in Bridgehampton from 7:30 p.m. on Saturday to 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. Southampton police announced on Sept. 3 that they had conducted screenings of 821 drivers — including numerous ride-share and taxi drivers — and arrested two people.
One of them, Luis F. Bermeo-Beletanga of East Hampton, 41, was charged with felony D.W.I. and aggravated unlicensed driving, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned the next morning in Southampton Town Justice Court.