Charged in Motel Break-In
A 19-year-old who has been living in Montauk since March was charged on Monday with two felony counts of burglary.
East Hampton Town police said Luis Baldayac broke a window at Montauk’s Lido Motel on Sunday night and entered two rooms, where he stole various items including an Xbox gaming console, an Apple watch, a number of cellphones, an iPad mini, headphones, and $850 in cash.
During his arraignment Tuesday morning, Wendy Grace Russo of the Legal Aid Society told East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana that Mr. Baldayac had a right to be at the motel, because his friends who live there had refused to pay him back money he had lent them over the summer.
“I don’t see it as a burglary situation, with a knife,” Ms. Russo said. “They were not strangers; he was there because they refused to pay him back.”
When questioned by police, Mr. Baldayac reportedly admitted to the thefts, giving the same explanation.
He told the court he had been living in New Jersey, and that this past summer was his first in Montauk. He had been working at Gurney’s Resort, he said, from March up until a few weeks ago, when he was told his contract, which he did not know was seasonal, was over. Since then, he said, he has been working at the Montauk 7-Eleven, making far less money, about $400 a week.
“Mr. Baldayac has only been living on eastern Long Island for a few months, has no family out here, and caused a dispute with money,” Justice Rana said. She set bail at $10,000, calling the felony charges “very serious.” He will have a Legal Aid attorney at his side when he returns to court today.
Town police also made two arrests on drug charges over the week. Scott R. Smith of Springs, 42, was allegedly found with cocaine and a small amount of marijuana on Sept. 20, during a 3:45 a.m. traffic stop on Fort Pond Boulevard in Springs. Police said they first found a plant-like material in a plastic bag in his car, which tested positive for marijuana. Then, they said, they found a clear plastic bag and a small black plastic bag in the pockets of his shorts, both containing a white powder. The powder reportedly tested positive for cocaine.
Officers also discovered two packages labeled “California medicated edibles” in his car, said to be concentrated cannabis. Mr. Smith, who was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana, was released on an appearance ticket with a date to be in Justice Court.
On Sept. 18 at 9:45 a.m., Juan C. Candelaria Bonilla of Montauk, 28, was arrested after police allegedly found prescription medication and a small amount of marijuana in his car, parked in a lot at 35 South Erie Avenue. According to the report, officers found half of a “round blue pill,” later identified as Alprazolam, and a fragment of an unknown white pill, in a plastic container in the center console, as well as a green, leafy, plant-like material, which proved to be marijuana, concealed in a box of Newport cigarettes.
Mr. Bonilla was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He was released on $100 bail, and will return to court at a later date.
On Sunday police lodged a felony charge against an East Hampton man, saying he had disobeyed an order of protection and tried to strangle its holder, a woman whose name was not released.
Cristian E. Carvajal-Herrera, 22, who lives in an apartment on North Main Street, was at a house on Three Mile Harbor Road, East Hampton, at about 1 a.m. when, police said, he pushed, punched, and kicked the woman and put his hands around her throat. A Suffolk County Family Court judge had granted her the order of protection in February.
In addition to the felony criminal contempt charge, Mr. Carvajal-Herrera was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, a misdemeanor. Justice Rana set bail at $500, which was posted.