Two Crashes Equal Two Arrests

Over the weekend, there were two drunken-driving arrests involving accidents here, police said, including one in which a driver got into not one, but two crashes in two different townships. 

An Oakdale man led East Hampton Village police on a chase Sunday night that ended when he allegedly crashed the 2001 Nissan Pathfinder he was driving through a fence and into a construction site at a busy Bridgehampton intersection.

Thomas R. Flanagan, 19, was arrested on multiple charges, including three counts of felony reckless endangerment, East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said Monday. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, driving with ability impaired by drugs, and fleeing a police officer, all misdemeanors. In addition, he was issued at least 15 moving violations by the police, who documented the entire episode with dashboard cameras. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $5,000, the amount requested by the district attorney’s office, on Monday morning.

Justice Tekulsky said that while Mr. Flanagan has never been convicted of a crime, his alleged actions throughout the chase “indicate to the court that the defendant puts his own interests above those of society.”

According to Chief Larsen, police first began looking for Mr. Flanagan after they received a call at 9:01 p.m. alerting them to a reckless driver headed west on Montauk Highway on Napeague. At 9:06 p.m., village police received a second call concerning the Nissan Mr. Flanagan was said to be driving, after it allegedly struck a utility pole where Pantigo Road becomes East Hampton’s Main Street, by the Hook Mill. Mr. Flanagan was said to have driven off after the accident, continuing west.

He was then spotted by an officer on Montauk Highway near Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. The officer put his emergency lights on, and Mr. Flanagan pulled over, Chief Larsen said. But, when the officer got out of the patrol car, Mr. Flanagan allegedly sped off. Driving at about 45 miles per hour while pursued by village police with their lights on and sirens blaring, Mr. Flanagan weaved in and out of westbound Sunday traffic, frequently driving on the shoulder, through Wainscott and Sagaponack, the chief said. At one point he forced a bicyclist off the road and onto a patch of grass. At another point, “he came within inches of colliding” with a village police car, according to the arrest report.

Now joined by Southampton Town police, the pursuit continued toward Bridgehampton. While trying to pass cars at the traffic light by at the corner of Montauk Highway and the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Mr. Flanagan struck an occupied car, careened off to the right, hopping the curb, and crashed into a construction site at the northwest corner of the intersection, the chief said.

After the crash Mr. Flanagan was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released back into police custody.

When police interviewed him, he reportedly said he had been drinking at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk, and that he had had “one or two margaritas.” He also allegedly admitted to taking two prescription mood-enhancing drugs.

In court Monday, he appeared shaken. He had multiple bruises and cuts on his face and shoulders.

His attorney, Brian Francese of the Legal Aid Society, argued that Mr. Flanagan is on medication, and told the court that the felony charges of reckless endangerment were “overcharges.” The charge is made when a defendant is said to threaten human life with his or her actions. Mr. Francese maintained that this did not fit the events.

According to Chief Larsen, however, Mr. Flanagan’s actions did endanger life. If he had not struck the car that led to the final crash, the chief said, he could well have struck a pedestrian on Main Street in Bridgehampton.

As it was, police recorded three life-threatening incidents during the chase with the dash cams, the chief said.

Justice Tekulsky said that Mr. Flanagan had blood drawn at the hospital, and that the court would soon have the report indicating alcohol and drug levels in his body.

Mr. Flanagan sobbed as he was taken away. He was unable to post bail Monday and was taken to county jail in Riverside, where bail was posted Tuesday.

A second vehicle crash that resulted in an arrest on drunken driving charges happened Friday night on Route 114. According to East Hampton Town police, Elmar Hernandez Cruz, 20, was driving a 1999 Dodge Caravan with its headlights out, when he crashed into the side of a 2015 Chevrolet Suburban, which was crossing Route 114 at Swamp Road.

Mr. Hernandez Cruz had to be extricated from the demolished Dodge by heavy-rescue squads from the Sag Harbor and East Hampton Fire Departments and was flown to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was scheduled to be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court yesterday.

The accident occurred a little more than a mile from Mr. Hernandez Cruz’s East Hampton house on Route 114.

The two women in the Suburban were transported to Southampton Hospital with minor injuries. Dayna H. Carney, 26, of Chicago was the driver of the Suburban, and the passenger was Caitlin Coyle, 27, whose hometown was not given.

Mr. Hernandez Cruz suffered a fractured lower leg, according to the police report.

There were three other local arrests this past week on misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charges, with the heavy rain over the weekend likely keeping drivers, sober and drunk, off the roads. Two of those arrests were in Montauk.

In the early morning hours of June 17, James R. Loeb, 57, was pulled over in a 2006 Jeep on West Lake Drive, after signaling a turn several times without turning, then swerving into the oncoming traffic lane, police said.

Mr. Loeb lives in College Point, but also has a unit in the Montauk Shores Condominiums in Ditch Plain, he told the court during his arraignment in front of East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.

The arresting officer reported that Mr. Loeb said, “I had a few beers at the Point. Can you follow me home?”

Instead, he ended up in handcuffs. At police headquarters, his blood alcohol content was measured at .12 of 1 percent, according to police. Anyone with a reading of .08 or higher is considered intoxicated. He was released without having to post bail.

A 2009 Honda allegedly doing 60 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone on Flamingo Road in Montauk was pulled over early Saturday morning.

Hunter F. Kelsey, 19, of Wainscott was said by police to have a blood alcohol level of .13. He was released later that morning without having to post bail.

In Sag Harbor Village, police arrested Grant R. Sabean, 20, of New York, after he allegedly ran a stop sign at Main Street and Route 114.

After he was arrested, he was taken to East Hampton Village police headquarters to take the Intoxilyzer 9000 breath test, which he failed. He, too, was released without having to post bail, but with a future date on the criminal calendar of Sag Harbor Justice Lisa R. Rana.