A driver and his passenger were both arrested by Sag Harbor Village police in the early morning hours on Sunday, one charged with drunken driving and the other with resisting arrest.
Jose Vasquez Garcia, 42, the driver, crossed the double yellow lines on Hampton Street several times before being pulled over, police said. He reportedly admitted having had six beers that night, and they spotted “numerous” open cans of Corona beer in his Nissan Sentra.
More than an hour later, police say his blood-alcohol content was .20 (.08 is the legal maximum). He was charged with felony-level D.W.I., having been convicted of the same charge in 2024 in East Hampton, and additionally charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle and failure to maintain an interlock system in his car, often required after D.W.I. convictions.
Mr. Vasquez Garcia was held overnight at East Hampton Town police headquarters in Wainscott for a morning arraignment in Justice Court. Before police could take him there, however, his passenger, Santos Belarmino Dominguez Rodriguez, 24, tried to walk away from the scene, they said.
Reports indicate that Mr. Dominguez Rodriguez was sitting behind Mr. Vasquez Garcia with an open container of alcohol and “multiple unopened alcoholic beverages underneath . . . his feet.” When asked to step out of the car, they said, he started walking away. When an officer “reached out” to stop him, he pulled away, ducked, and “attempted to flee.”
Police brought the man to the ground, where they say he became combative, “attempting to hold his arms underneath his body to prevent handcuffing.” He was able to slip his right-hand cuff, but was ultimately subdued. Police said Mr. Dominguez Rodriguez was scuffed up from the scuffle and they provided medical aid to him.
He was charged with an open container violation and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and released on his own recognizance with an appearance ticket for April 10.
The next day, Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace similarly released Mr. Vasquez Garcia, who is facing a felony charge.
Elsewhere on the roads, another man suspected of D.W.I. was arrested on March 15. Andres Julio Mejia Orellana, 43, of Mastic, was pulled over by East Hampton Town police on Montauk Highway in Wainscott, allegedly speeding. His front license plate was missing, police said, and he showed signs of intoxication in a roadside test.
Mr. Mejia Orellana was convicted of D.W.I. in 2016, within the 10-year New York State limit, so the charge was automatically upgraded to a felony. He was released on his own recognizance later that morning by East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky.