Driver Downs Road Signs
A man who left a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe to the mercy of the Atlantic Ocean one night last July, after striking a boulder on a Montauk beach and cracking an axle, was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with driving while intoxicated.
East Hampton Town police said John Marino, 43, was driving a 1960 Volkswagen on East Lake Drive in Montauk at about 3 a.m. when the car left the road and hit a stop sign at the Montauk Highway intersection. A passing motorist, who called 911, watched as Mr. Marino drove back onto the road, then off again, this time knocking down a white street sign marker before turning onto the highway headed west.
A patrol car was dispatched. When the officer spotted the Volkswagen, with none of its lights functioning, it made a sharp U-turn and headed back east at a high rate of speed before again leaving the road, bouncing off a speed limit sign, and continuing on. The officer activated his lights and siren, and Mr. Marino finally came to a stop. He and his two passengers were unhurt.
The officer reported that he failed roadside sobriety tests, and he was taken to police headquarters in Wainscott, where a breath test produced a reading of .13, well over the .08 maximum. In addition to drunken driving, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage, possession of an open alcohol container in a car, and numerous equipment violations.
At his arraignment later that morning, he told East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky that his main residence is on York Avenue in Manhattan, but that he owns a house on Startop Drive in Montauk, off East Lake Drive. After warning him not to drive, the court set bail at $500, which was posted at police headquarters the next morning.
In last year’s incident, seawater soaked the Tahoe’s engine. With only 17,000 miles on it, the car was declared totaled. Mr. Marino was charged with three violations, and ultimately paid $450 in fines.
A Sag Harbor woman was charged with D.W.I. a little before sunset on Friday, following an accident in Water Mill at the three-way intersection of 7 Ponds Towd, Lower 7 Ponds, and Upper 7 Ponds Roads. Deborah Bennett, 53, who had crashed into a dirt embankment, did not require medical attention, Southampton Town police said.
At police headquarters in Hampton Bays, a breath test reportedly produced a reading of .18 or higher, triggering an elevated misdemeanor charge of aggravated drunken driving. Ms. Bennett spent the night in a holding cell before being released in the morning after arraignment in Southampton Town Justice Court.
Southampton Town police leveled the same charge against an East Hampton man, Orlando Montufar-Ramirez, 44, who was pulled over shortly after midnight Sunday on Sunrise Highway in Hampton Bays for “multiple traffic infractions.” He too was freed in the morning after posting bail.