An East Hampton man arrested earlier this year on serious felony drug charges is now facing four misdemeanor charges, three of them drug-related, following a traffic stop Friday at about 4:45 p.m. on Old Stone Highway near Winding Way in Amagansett.
Bernard J. Kulick, 28, was reportedly driving without a valid license. His license had been revoked for operating without insurance in February and suspended in May for failure to pay a fine.
While taking him into custody, East Hampton Town police found four small Ziploc bags with a brown powdery substance on the driver’s-side floorboard of his 2004 GMC. The substance later tested positive for heroin, police said. One small Ziploc bag containing a white powdery substance that later tested positive for cocaine was found in the cupholder, according to the arrest report. Police also said they found multiple individual Ziploc bags for packaging individual quantities of drugs.
Mr. Kulick was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, one count of criminal use of drug paraphernalia, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. He posted $1,800 bail and was released on an appearance ticket. He is due in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, he is facing six felony and two misdemeanor drug charges in Suffolk County Criminal Court, where he is due back on Aug. 13. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment there before Judge William Condon on Feb. 6.
Police found large amounts of heroin, hydrocodone pills, and marijuana in a duffel bag in a vehicle — believed to be the same one Mr. Kulick was stopped in on Friday — that was stopped in Sag Harbor Village on Dec. 30, 2018. Mr. Kulick was the passenger. Veronica M.
Zill, who said she was pregnant at the time, was behind the wheel.
Ms. Zill pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a felony, and to criminal facilitation in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, on April 11, and is awaiting formal sentencing.
Carl Irace, who is Mr. Kulick’s court-appointed attorney, said “He denies the allegations in the new arrest. And we are litigating the case in county court. We think some information will come to light in the new case that will improve our position in county court.”
Elsewhere in the town, a Manhattan man allegedly damaged a door at a house on Timber Lane in Northwest Woods on June 23. Police said Samuel M. Pinion, 27, forced open the door, causing over $250 in damage. Police found him in possession of a clear glass vial containing a white powdery substance that later tested positive for cocaine, according to their report.
He was charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a felony; criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, also a misdemeanor. He was released on $500 bail and ordered to appear in court today.
Jack Steven Orozco Orrego, 27, of Springs was arrested on a misdemeanor drug charge on South Embassy Street in Montauk at about 2 a.m. on Friday. Town police said he had a small clear plastic bag in his pants pocket, containing a white powdery substance that later tested positive for the presence of cocaine. It was not clear why police searched him. He posted $100 bail at headquarters and was released with an appearance ticket to answer the charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in court on July 26.
Benedict M. McKenna, 21, of Southampton was arrested at about 1:50 a.m. on July 1 after causing a scene outside the Point Bar and Grill in Montauk. Security told Mr. McKenna, who was intoxicated, multiple times that he was not permitted inside the bar, a report said. Nonetheless, he tried to enter, shouting and flailing, and pushed a man. He also kicked over decorative plants in front of the entrance to the nearby Montauk Medical Center, uprooting and destroying them.
Mr. McKenna was charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a violation. He was held for a morning arraignment; Justice Lisa R. Rana released him on his own recognizance.
John Mark Shkreli, 27, of Bronxville, N.Y., faces several charges after an incident at a house on Agnew Avenue in Montauk at about 3 a.m. on Saturday. He allegedly pulled on a door handle until it broke away from the door, and also broke a dinner plate. He was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, and two counts of second-degree harassment, a violation. Justice Steven Tekulsky released him on his own recognizance.
Back on June 14, police charged three bartenders at Montauk establishments with selling alcohol to an under-age drinker who did not have identification. At about 8:40 p.m., police said, Tammy R. McClaughlin, 40, of Montauk served two 12-ounce bottles of Corona beer to a person born in 1999 at the Clam and Chowder House at Salivar’s Dock on West Lake Drive.
At 9:30 p.m., police discovered Joseph H. Bauer, 36, of Huntington Station serving two bottles of Corona to the same person at 668 The Gig Shack on Montauk Highway. Officers then went a few doors down to Tacombi, where Tereza Hajkova, a 23-year-old bartender from Montauk, served three Monopolio beers to the same patron at about 9:45 p.m.
All three bartenders were charged with prohibited sale of an alcoholic beverage under the State Alcoholic Beverage Control law, a misdemeanor, and released on appearance tickets. They were due in court yesterday.