D.W.I. All Was Quiet on the Roads

Local roads were relatively quiet last week, with only two men, both residents of Springs, pulled over by police and eventually charged with driving while intoxicated.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 17, East Hampton Town police stopped Bryan Stewart, 31, on Cooper Lane, saying that his 1989 Volkswagen van had veered repeatedly across lane lines. After failing sobriety tests, according to the report, he asked the arresting officer, “Is there an option to just walk home?”

Back at headquarters, Mr. Stewart declined three requests to take the breath test. His license was automatically suspended for the refusal.

He was released later that morning without bail, in recognition of long residence here, following arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court, but with a future date on Justice Steven Tekulsky’s criminal calendar.

An East Hampton Village officer spotted an eastbound Nissan swerving back and forth on Main Street Friday night and began following it, pacing its speed as it continued onto Pantigo Road. Opposite the courthouse by Amy’s Lane the officer stopped the car, which was reportedly moving 50 miles per hour in a 30-miles-per-hour zone.

The driver, Edison Giovani Cardenas Villa, 27, failed the field sobriety test and was arrested. Besides the speeding charge, he was hit with eight moving violations, including having open alcohol containers — two bottles of Corona beer — in the car. 

Back at Cedar Street headquarters, his breath test produced a blood-alcohol reading of .13, according to police.

Mr. Cardenas Villa has only been in the United States for a year, but is gainfully employed, factors that Justice Lisa R. Rana took into account on Saturday morning before setting bail at $500. The defendant’s father posted the bail.