Plenty of Weekend D.W.I.s

Two men who left the scene of accidents last weekend were among a raft of drivers arrested on drunken driving charges. One driver kept going after allegedly sideswiping a car in Montauk. The other tried to flee after crashing into a utility pole; his arrest is covered separately.

 Town police said Jeffrey J. Fazzinga was driving a 2008 Mitsubishi west on Montauk Main Street at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday when it sideswiped a 2006 Dodge van as it was pulling out of a parking spot. The vehicle, owned by a Southampton company, was being driven by a Brooklyn man, whom police did not name. They pulled the Mitsubishi over shortly afterward.

At headquarters, Mr. Fazzinga’s breath test allegedly produced a reading of .12 of 1 percent alcohol in the blood, but although relatively low it was over .08, which defines intoxication. Mr. Fazzinga was released that morning after posting $250 bail. He apparently had been driving the car while its owner was a passenger.

A third person arrested on drunken driving charges was Mark A. Schiavoni, who told East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky that he had just moved to Amagansett. He was driving a 2004 Toyota west on Montauk Highway on Napeague at about 5 a.m. Sunday when he was pulled over for allegedly swerving across lane lines. “I thought I had three beers, but clearly it was more,” he reportedly told police after failing roadside sobriety tests.

The charge against him, a misdeamenor, was raised to the aggravated level when his breath test produced a .18 reading, police said. However, Mr. Schiavoni was also charged with possession of a small amount of cocaine. When asked where he worked by Justice Tekulsky during his arraignment, Mr. Schiavoni said he was a driver for Hamptons Free Ride, and “probably won’t be doing that anymore.”

“That’s a good bet,” Justice Tekulsky answered, and  he suspended Mr. Schiavoni’s license.

Edwin M. Puin-Gutama was placed under arrest at about the same time on Sunday after being pulled over on Three Mile Harbor Road. Besides a drunken driving charge, based in part on a .12 reading, he was also charged with unlicensed driving. Justice Tekulsky warned Mr. Puin-Gutama, after suspending his license, that if he was brought into Justice Court again on an unlicensed driving charge, and convicted, he would go to jail. Mr. Puin-Gutama was freed later that morning after family members posted the $1,000 bail set.

Liam M. Canning of Brooklyn was also charged with driving while intoxicated after being pulled over just east of downtown Montauk, on the highway. At headquarters, his breath test produced a reportedly low .10 reading, according to police, and he was released after posting $200 bail.

Sag Harbor Village police made four arrests over the past week on misdemeanor D.W.I. charges. One, that of Ingrida Vanzodas, on May 24, was at the aggravated level, because police said her breath test topped .18. She was pulled over, police said, because she was speeding on Bay Street and then went through the stop sign at the intersection of Main Street and Route 114 a little after midnight. Ms. Vanzodas, 41, of Churchville, Pa., was released after posting $500 bail.

Two men were arraigned Monday morning in Sag Harbor Village Court by Justice Lisa R. Rana, as the Memorial Day parade proceeded down Main Street. Both men told her they were in the restaurant business, one a server, one an owner. The latter, Mustafa Fenercioglu, 39, of Manhattan, said he was the owner of Adalya Restaurant on Irving Place. The 2015 Ford he was driving was pulled over a little after midnight Sunday on Main Street. Police said he made an illegal U-turn. Justice Rana revoked his license after he refused to take a breath test. He posted $350 bail.

Justice Rana continued onto the second arraignment, as the sounds of the parade drifted in through the courthouse door, open to let in fresh air. “Mr. Billionaire,” she said, calling up a man named Shelby Billionaire. The defendant agreed his name was unusual. Police said he was operating a motorized 2016 EcoBike erratically, and ran a stop sign early Monday morning. At headquarters, he, too, refused to take the breath test.

As Justice Rana began reading the charges against him, including a misdemeanor drunken driving charge, an 18-gun salute began firing in front of the courthouse. The air-conditioning was turned on, the door closed, and the arraignment continued. Mr. Billionaire, 31, who lives in Elmhurst, said he was in Sag Harbor for the season, working as a waiter. Bail was set at $350, which was posted by a friend.

Also arrested by Sag Harbor police was Dean P. Santon. He was arraigned in East Hampton Justice Court Saturday because Justice Rana was taking the day off. He had been pulled over early Saturday morning while allegedly speeding on Main Street in a 2010 Toyota Prius. A 58-year-old Manhattan resident, he told Justice Tekulsky he works in real estate and had been visiting his former wife in Bridgehampton. Police said he had failed a breath test with a reading of .16. It was a tough start for the defendant’s holiday weekend, Justice Tekulsky noted as he suspended the defendant’s driving license and set bail at $250, which was posted.

 Meanwhile, a Sag Harbor man was snagged after trying to flee a checkpoint Saturday night on the Flanders Road near Hampton Bays as part of a Suffolk County East End operation run by the district attorney’s office throughout Southampton Town.

Geovany Plaza, 27, started off as a passenger in a 2004 Ford minivan being driven by Pablo G. Carchipulla, 31, a Flanders resident. He wound up facing multiple charges, including felony D.W.I., after the van was stopped at about 10 p.m.

Police first concentrated on Mr. Carchipulla, who they said was wanted by East Hampton Town police on a warrant for failing to appear in court. He failed roadside sobriety tests and was charged with D.W.I. as a misdemeanor, as well as driving without a license, a felony.

At that point, police began the process of impounding the car, due to the felony charge, when Mr. Plaza jumped behind the wheel of the minivan and attempted a get-away, police said. He was “driving across curbs and medians without headlights on, and onto Flanders Road, then Sunrise Highway,” with police in pursuit, the report said. He was apprehended on the highway.

   He, too, was drunk, according to police, and, because he already had been convicted of drunken driving, he is now facing a D.W.I. charge at the felony level. Like Mr. Carchipulla, Mr. Plaza is also facing a felony unlicensed driving charge. In addition, police leveled a misdemeanor charge of driving without the ignition interlock device required due to his D.W.I. conviction. Both men posted bail after being arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court.