Errant Calls Yield Arrests

Several cellphone calls to 911 from near Liars’ Saloon on West Lake Drive in Montauk, which apparently were accidental, led to the arrest of two men on Saturday. Police automatically investigate calls to 911 using the global positioning system even if a call is disconnected. That was done early Saturday morning, with an officer then finding a parked 2011 Ford pickup truck in the parking lot outside Liars’ Saloon. Henry J. Lackner, 23, and Steven Z. Garcia-Rivera, 24, both of Montauk, were seated inside. 

According to police, a strong smell of marijuana was coming from the pickup and, after they found a small amount in the truck, the men were charged with violations. However, a search of the truck revealed 16 packets of cocaine, allegedly totaling over an eighth of an ounce, police said. Mr. Lackner and Mr. Garcia-Rivera were charged with possession and intent to sell narcotics.

Mr. Garcia-Rivera’s attorney, Rita Bonicelli, told Justice Steven Tekulsky during his arraignment on Saturday that her client was close to the negotiated disposition of a felony charge on possession of narcotics following an arrest by Suffolk County police in May. That plea bargain is likely to be set back.

The district attorney’s office asked that bail be set at $75,000. Ms. Bonicelli told Justice Tekulsky that her client had been “very compliant and reliable,” and that he would return to court. Justice Tekulsky set bail at $10,000. Mr. Garcia-Rivera initially failed to post bail and was taken to county jail, but he has since been released. Mr. Garcia-Rivera has been a server in several Montauk restaurants. 

Mr. Lackner had been arrested on a drunken driving charge after being pulled over on Montauk Highway on Napeague in 2015. At the time police said his vehicle was moving at 95 miles per hour. His attorney, Chris Carillo, pointed out that Mr. Lackner’s mother was in the court during the arraignment, and said he was not a flight risk. Justice Tekulsky set his bail at $5,000, which was posted.

In other action this week, an East Hampton man, Glen A. Kittren, 46, was behind the wheel of a 2002 Subaru when he was pulled over on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton on Friday evening. Police said he was stopped because of a burned-out headlight. Arrested after allegedly failing roadside sobriety tests, a breath test at headquarters produced an alleged reading of .13 of 1 percent, over the .08 levels that define intoxication.

 Mr. Kittren’s 3-year-old child was in the car at the time of his arrest, police said. He was charged with multiple felonies, including driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law, which makes it a crime to drive drunk with a passenger 15 or younger, as well as drunken driving with a prior conviction within the past 10 years. He had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving in June of 2014. On Friday night, he was also charged with driving without a license as a felony and a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. Bail was set at $25,000, with a $50,000 bond alternative. He remained in custody as of yesterday morning. The law requires the district attorney’s office to obtain an indictment by the end of the day today or release him. 

Felony unlicensed driving and drunken driving as a misdemeanor were the charges for Sergio Salazar-Dominguez, 35, early on Saturday morning. He was pulled over in a 2004 Chevrolet because, police said, turning onto Newtown Lane from Pantigo Road in East Hampton he drove over hazard markings, and was moving at “an unreasonably slow speed.” His breath test at headquarters produced a .11 reading, according to police. 

Mr. Salazar-Dominguez’s license had been suspended in August after he was charged by East Hampton Village police with drunken driving. That case is pending. When he was arraigned after that arrest, Justice Steven Tekulsky told Mr. Salazar-Dominguez, as he does every defendant arraigned on drunken driving charges, that he was suspending his driving privileges. “You cannot drive,” Justice Tekulsky had said, adding that if he did he would be sentenced to jail time, the exact situation Mr. Salazar-Dominguez now found himself in. Justice Tekulsky set bail at $5,000. He remained in custody unable to make bail, but will be released today if not indicted.

Meanwhile, three people were charged with drunken driving last week that were not felonies. Robert Cunningham, 67, of Springs was driving a 1992 Chrysler Le Baron early Sunday morning, police said, when he made an erratic turn onto Amagansett Main Street, causing an officer to pull him over near the Amagansett School. According to police, Mr. Cunningham, after coming to a stop on the shoulder, put his car in reverse, backing right into the front end of the police cruiser. 

Allegedly failing roadside sobriety tests, he was taken to headquarters, where a breath test produced a reading of .17 of 1 percent, well in excess of the .08 mark that triggers a driving while intoxicated charge, the police said. He also was written up for several alleged traffic violations, including backing up unsafely. “I had two drinks,” he is reported to have told the arresting officer. Arraigned later Sunday morning in front Justice Tekulsky, he was released without bail.

Also released without bail on Sunday following a D.W.I. charge was Monica A. Contreras, 31, of East Hampton. She was driving a 2014 Jeep Wrangler on Montauk Highway in Montauk when she repeatedly swerved across lane lines, police said. “You are not eligible for a hardship license,” she was told by Justice Tekulsky during her arraignment. That was because, according to police, she had refused to take the breath test at headquarters. 

Robin G. Prager, 56, was arrested Friday night on a D.W.I. charge. Police said she was headed north in a 2001 Mazda on Abraham’s Path after sunset without turning on the car’s headlights. Ms. Prager had the lowest breath test reading of the week, at .09. She was released Saturday after being arraigned without having to post bail but with a future date on Justice Tekulsky’s criminal calendar.