Couple Returns to Court

A 36-year-old man who was charged in Montauk a few weeks ago with striking and choking his girlfriend until she passed out was back in custody last week, this time charged with felony burglary after reportedly breaking into her house and again knocking her unconscious.

On the night before David M. Barlow was to meet with lawyers in East Hampton Justice Court to discuss disposition of the original charges — strangulation, assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of criminal mischief for smashing two phones as Jordana Esses was trying to call for help — he broke through both a garage door and an inner door and assaulted her again, according to East Hampton Town police.

At his arraignment the week before, on April 24, Ms. Esses had been in the courtroom. She asked Justice Steven Tekulsky to release Mr. Barlow, telling him her boyfriend needed help, not imprisonment. Justice Tekulsky set a low bail, which Ms. Esses posted.

She was not in court last Thursday for Mr. Barlow’s second arraignment. There, at the urging of Rob Archer, a county district attorney, Justice Tekulsky set bail at $10,000, which was not posted, and issued Ms. Esses an order of protection against her boyfriend. He was taken to the county jail in Riverside.

On Tuesday afternoon he was brought back to court, wearing a pressed white shirt and tie and khaki pants. The district attorney’s office had tried to obtain a grand jury indictment, but Ms. Esses declined to testify. She too was back in the court on Tuesday.

Justice Lisa Rana was on the bench. Ms. Esses asked her to lift the order of protection, but was told that only Justice Tekulsky could do that. His next criminal calendar day is next Thursday.

Because Mr. Barlow had not been indicted within 120 hours of the felony arrest, he was to have been released Tuesday afternoon. As county sheriffs took him away for the trip back to Riverside and imminent freedom, the couple waved to each other.

Four men from Puerto Rico, just arrived in Montauk as part of the seasonal migration of workers, found themselves in town police custody last Thursday morning, charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Police said Denis V. Medina, 23, Alexis W. Bonet-Rosado, 33, Christian C. Ruiz, 33, all from Rincon, and Vamil J. Muniz, 33, from neighboring Anasco, had gotten off the midnight train with their duffel bags and suitcases. It was cold, there were no businesses open, and they eventually found their way to the dock area, where they found an unlocked laundry room at Wells Avenue.

They went in with their bags and plugged in their cellphones, police said. A Gosman’s Dock employee found them camped out there in the morning and phoned the police.

In court later that morning, the four pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation. Justice Tekulsky imposed no fine, but they had to pay the required court fee, $90 each, about the price of a room for a night’s stay.

There was one arrest for driving while intoxicated last week. Jose M. Diaz-Salazar, 24, of Springs, was charged a little after 1 a.m. on May 7. His blood-alcohol level was reportedly .14 of one percent.

“How long am I not allowed to drive?” he asked Justice Tekulsky later that morning. “Until this is resolved,” he was told. He was released on $500 bail.