The Wrong Front Yard
There were 11 alcohol-related arrests in East Hampton Town over the past week, mostly over the holiday weekend, and two more in Sag Harbor. Many of those arrested had high blood-alcohol readings, according to police
One arrest took place outside the residence of an East Hampton Town Justice. At about 7:35 a.m. on Sunday, as Justice Lisa R. Rana was preparing to leave for court, a 2009 Toyota crashed through her split-rail fence and into her front yard on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road. The driver, later identified as Luis T. Marin-Castro, 28, drove off, leaving behind a trail of debris. Witnesses wasted no time in calling the police.
Lt. A.J. McGuire described what followed. Squad cars were dispatched to investigate. One of them was on Three Mile Harbor Road, headed toward the house, when the Toyota, with “major front-end damage,” sped by in the opposite direction, clocked at 77 miles per hour in a 40 m.p.h. zone. The squad car made a quick U-turn and pulled it over.
Back at town police headquarters in Wainscott, Mr. Marin-Castro’s blood-alcohol content reportedly registered .23, almost three times the legal limit. He was arraigned on Monday morning. Because Justice Rana is a potential witness or victim in the case, she recused herself from the proceedings.
Mr. Marin-Castro was charged with aggravated drunken driving, as well as speeding, leaving the scene of an accident, and changing lanes illegally. Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $300, which was posted.
On Sunday night, a founding partner of Montauk’s Surf Lodge was similarly charged; that arrest took place just yards from the popular nightclub. Police said Stephen G. Kasuba, 49, after peeling out in reverse from a dead end near the train station, had driven his 2014 Volkswagen at an “unsafe high speed along the pedestrian-lined” Edgemere Street before making a hard right onto Industrial Road, almost colliding with an oncoming vehicle.
He reportedly told the arresting officer that “I had some cocktails at the Surf Lodge.” In addition to drunken driving, he was charged with seven moving violations.
Mr. Kasuba, who told Justice Rana at his arraignment on Memorial Day that he was a publicist, was released on $300 bail.
Another man arraigned on Memorial Day on a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated was Dane Murphy, 29, of Redding, Conn. He was stopped in Montauk at 3:45 a.m. that day approaching Carl Fisher Plaza; police said his 2005 GMC ran a stop sign at the plaza without signaling and swerved into the oncoming lane.
He told the arresting officer he had had “a couple of Jamesons.”
Justice Rana suspended his license because of his .21 blood-alcohol reading and asked him what he did for a living.
“I play soccer,” he said, “for the New York Cosmos.” He told her he was just visiting the Hamptons for the weekend.
According to the Cosmos website, Mr. Murphy is also the team’s headscout. Bail was set at $300, which his sister, who was also here for the holiday weekend, later posted at Wainscott police headquarters.
Lauren A. Behning, 25, who said during her arraignment that she was in Montauk for an art show on the Plaza, was pulled over in a 2007 Toyota on West Lake Drive early Sunday for speeding; she told the officer she had had “a couple of Martinis” at the Gig Shack on Main Street. Her breath test at headquarters, according to police, produced a reading of .23. A Massachusetts native, she was freed on $500 bail, and must return to town for a future date in court.
The two Sag Harbor arrests also ended in charges of aggravated D.W.I. Marlo Sinchi, 21, a village resident, was arrested on Hampton Street early Sunday; police said his 2005 Subaru had no lights and was swerving across the yellow lines. A 2006 Ford Mustang convertible driven by Robinson G. Guiracocha of East Hampton, also 21, was swerving, police said, before they stopped it on Division Street. Neither driver, reportedly, had a valid license. Both were later freed on $750 bail, with dates on the Sag Harbor Village Justice Court’s criminal calendar.
An Uber driver from the city was arrested at about 5 a.m. Saturday on Amagansett Main Street. Rafael J. Cabrera, 30, of Manhattan was driving a 2015 Toyota without benefit of headlights when he was pulled over, police said. His blood-alcohol registered .13, and Justice Rana warned him at his arraignment that if he is licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York, his authorization to drive for a living is likely to be revoked.
Before the arraignment began, Mr. Cabrera said he didn’t know who to call to post bail. Seated near him, also waiting to be arraigned on D.W.I. charges, was Jacqueline K. Ash of La Jolla, Calif. She turned to Mr. Cabrera, whom she did not know, and said she would post his bail.
Ms. Ash, 30, had a reading low enough, below .11, to possibly allow her lawyer to have the charge reduced to driving with ability impaired, a simple violation. She was as good as her word to Mr. Cabrera, posting the $300 bail set for him along with the $500 set for her.
An 18-year-old from Montauk, whose name was withheld by police because of his age, faces a drunken-driving charge after being arrested last Thursday on Indian Wells Highway in Amagansett. On Friday, Justice Tekulsky told him he was not going to yell at him because he was sure his father, who was seated in the courtroom, would do plenty of that.
Also arrested last Thursday was Tara M. McKernan, 61, of Bedford, N.Y., who had been stopped on West Lake Drive in Montauk. Like the previous defendant, she was released without bail, but with a future date on Justice Tekulsky’s calendar.
David Ferris Betts, 30, was pulled over early Sunday morning on Edgemere Street near Carl Fisher Plaza after making two illegal turns, according to the police. Mr. Betts told Justice Rana he was newly unemployed, having just returned from Africa. He spent a year and a half in Ethiopia, he told her, and four years in Kenya, helping poor farmers obtain loans for their land. He now lives in Spokane, Wash., and was here visiting his brother, who has a house in East Hampton.
Normally a return date of several weeks later is set following an arraignment, to allow time to hire a lawyer. But Justice Rana took account of Mr. Betts’s need to return to Spokane, as well as his fairly low reading of .11, and set his return to court for today.
Ivan R. Morocho-Pucha of Springs, 28, was also arrested early Sunday morning, after being stopped on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton for several traffic violations. Police said he had an open container of alcohol in his 2005 Chevrolet, no driver’s license, and a breath-alcohol reading of .15. Justice Rana set his bail at $350, which was posted by family members.
Bladyn Guillermo Yanchaguano-Changoluiza, 30, also of Springs, was stopped early Monday morning on Three Mile Harbor Road; police said he had committed several moving violations. He too was charged with unlicensed driving. His breath-alcohol reading was reported at .11, and he was released on $300 bail with a future date in court.