Facing Deportation After Second Arrest
A Springs man is facing possible deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being arrested by East Hampton Town police for the second time in less than a year on charges stemming from alleged drunken driving.
Andy Michael Sanchez-Jaramillo, 34, was behind the wheel of a 2015 Hyundai headed north on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton on Saturday night when he began swerving into the oncoming lane of traffic, then swinging back across the road and onto the shoulder, police said. A patrol car began following the Hyundai, which allegedly continued to swerve, until it pulled into a driveway.
Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo got out of the car and allegedly tried to outrun the officer, but was soon apprehended.
He had been arrested in June of 2017 on a driving while intoxicated charge, after being in a motor vehicle accident, according to the police. The misdemeanor charge at that time was at the aggravated level, due to a breath test that produced a reading in excess of .18 of 1 percent alcohol in the blood, police said.
That 2017 case is still being adjudicated.
At headquarters after Saturday night’s arrest, Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo refused to take a breath test, according to the police. Because the prior charge is still open, the new D.W.I. count remains a misdemeanor. However, because his license was suspended last June following the arrest, and has yet to be restored, Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo is now facing a felony charge of unlicensed driving.
He was arraigned Sunday morning in East Hampton Town Justice Court in front of Justice Lisa R. Rana. He had stood before her last Thursday, as part of the adjudication process for last year’s arrest. “So not nice to see you again. You were here, what, Thursday?” she asked. She read through the new charges, which included numerous moving violations and a harassment charge for allegedly briefly struggling with the arresting officer. “There is an ICE detainer,” she concluded.
The Suffolk County sheriff’s office holds defendants for up to 48 hours after they are supposed to be released if the county receives a detainer request from ICE officers, to allow them time to pick up the defendant on immigration charges. The legality of this practice is being challenged in the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division by the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Justice Rana set bail at $10,000. Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo said he would not be able to post that amount; even if he did, the ICE detainer would take effect. Because he is charged with a felony, the district attorney has, under the law covering such charges, until the end of the business day on Friday to obtain an indictment on the charge or release Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo. Such a release, however, would be technical in nature. Mr. Sanchez-Jaramillo would be moved by county sheriff’s officers from the general prisoner population at the jail in Riverside to one of the 150 beds ICE rents from the county in the same facility. At that point, the 48-hour clock would start ticking for the federal agency to take action.
In other news, Sag Harbor Village police arrested Christopher A. Thomas II early Sunday morning. He had been pulled over after crossing the Sag Harbor-North Haven Bridge, headed north. Police said the 22-year-old Sag Harbor resident was driving at night without his headlights on, and had run the stop sign at the intersection of Main Street and Bay Street. He took the breath test at headquarters, which resulted in a .13 reading, over the .08 mark that defines intoxication, according to the police. He was released later that morning after being arraigned without bail.