Skip to main content

At First He Said He Swerved to Avoid a Pedestrian, but . . .

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 06:39

An East Hampton driver faces D.W.I. charges after crashing into a tree off Middle Highway, a few blocks from his residence, last Thursday evening. A neighbor phoned police after the crash, and an officer found Mario D. Cucunuba standing outside his 2007 Ford pickup truck.

Mr. Cucunuba, 36, told police he had “swerved to avoid a person in the road,” but admitted that he had been drinking, according to the report. Failing sobriety tests, he was arrested and taken to headquarters, where a breath test produced a reported reading of .15.

Besides the misdemeanor drunken-driving charges, he was charged with two moving violations. When police ran Mr. Cucunuba’s fingerprints, they discovered that Southampton Village had a warrant out for his arrest, stating he had failed to pay a fine.

East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail the next morning at $400, which was posted, after which Mr. Cucunuba was turned over to Southampton Village police. They transported him to that jurisdiction’s courthouse, where he paid his outstanding fine and was released.

Joan Henry of East Hampton, 66, driving a 2016 Volkswagen, was pulled over by a town officer on Newtown Lane a little before midnight Monday. Her breath test produced a reading of .09, police said, and she was released without bail after a morning arraignment.

Both Mr. Cucunuba and Ms. Henry refused to take the breath test at the side of the road, before submitting to it at headquarters.

Long Days on the Fire Line In Orange County

East Hampton and Amagansett firefighters volunteered to head north last week to help fight a 5,000-acre wildfire in Orange County, N.Y., not once but twice, battling unfamiliar terrain to do so. “They fight fires completely differently than we do when we have a brush fire,” the Amagansett chief said.

Nov 21, 2024

Awards for Good Policing in Handgun Scuffle

“It could have gone worse. We’re lucky that I have officers here that weren’t shot,” said Police Chief Jeff Erickson at Friday’s East Hampton Village Board meeting. Chief Erickson was recognizing Sgt. Wayne Gauger and Officers John Clark and Robbie Greene for a traffic stop on Aug. 31 that turned into a scuffle and the eventual confiscation of an illegal gun.

Nov 21, 2024

On the Police Logs 11.21.24

A Three Mile Harbor Drive resident reported an online dating scam on the afternoon of Nov. 16. Somehow, said the 80-year-old man, a person on the dating platform had gotten his phone number and demanded $2,000 from him, threatening to tell his family he was using the site if he did not comply. Police told the man to block the number.

Nov 21, 2024

Head-On Collision on Route 27

A 2-year-old was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital following a head-on collision Saturday afternoon on State Route 27 near Upland Road in Montauk.

Nov 21, 2024

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.