More State Police Assigned to Montauk

The New York State Police Department has added at least two more squad cars to patrol in Montauk on weekend nights, Capt. David Candelaria said on Monday.

“Montauk is definitely the hot spot,” he said.

The state troopers made two arrests in the hamlet over the weekend and another in East Hampton. East Hampton Town police, for their part, added three more drunken-driving arrests in Montauk overnight on Saturday.

“We’re moving a few chips around,” Captain Candelaria said of the new deployment, which began this past weekend and will be in effect through the summer. It has been welcomed not only by the community but by the East Hampton Town Police Department.

“Any time the state police can provide some additional manpower and presence, particularly during the summer months, it is greatly appreciated,” said Chief Michael D. Sarlo.

Trooper Thomas Chadwick explained the troopers’ procedure: Those arrested are taken to town police headquarters in Wainscott, where a breath test is administered. Unlike drivers arrested by local police, who are normally held for a speedy arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court, those charged by troopers are released to a third party, with a later date here in court.

The only exceptions to this routine happen if someone refuses to take the breath test or is facing a felony charge. In those cases, state police transport the accused to their headquarters in Riverside, where they are held overnight and brought back for a morning arraignment.

One of those arrested by a trooper last weekend, Margaret A. Stankevich, 27, of East Hampton, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated. Her blood-alcohol level was said to be .26 of 1 percent, the highest reading reported over the weekend. Ms. Stankevich, who was stopped on Route 27 in the Hither Hills area for failing to dim her headlights for oncoming traffic, will be arraigned next Thursday. The “aggravated” charge, though still a misdemeanor, could have more serious legal repercussions.

Also charged with aggravated D.W.I. last weekend was Christopher Ryder, 54, who recently moved to Montauk. Town police said his reading was .25 percent. His 1995 Chevrolet was pulled over on West Lake Drive for speeding, according to the arresting officer. Arraigned Sunday morning, he was released on $250 bail, with a future date on Justice Steven Tekulsky’s calendar.

Terence P. Feehan, 36, a longtime Montauk resident, was stopped on Essex Street early Sunday, also by town police. His .15 reading was below the .18 that triggers the aggravated charge, but almost twice the legal limit. He had been driving a 2004 Nissan near South Euclid Street when, police said, he swerved across the double yellow lines. Justice Tekulsky noted that Mr. Feehan has a prior D.W.I. arrest, but that the charge had been reduced to a violation. He also took note of the defendant’s roots in the community and released him without requiring bail to be posted.

A trooper pulled over Philippe J. Emerit of New York City, 31, on Montauk Highway east of Daniel’s Hole Road, East Hampton, a little after midnight Friday. His breath test produced the same reading as Mr. Feehan’s. His taillights were out, police said, leading to the stop. He will be arraigned next Thursday.

Back in Montauk, a 2015 Maserati being driven north on Edgemere Street by another 31-year-old New York man, Benjamin David Pike, was pulled over early Sunday morning for failure to signal a turn, as well as lacking headlights. Mr. Pike, a vice president of a Manhattan hedge fund, recorded just under .13 percent on his breath test in Wainscott, low enough that he may be able to negotiate a reduced charge. He too was released on $250 bail.

Finally, the lowest number of the week, .11, was that of Jeffrey S. Collins of Islip, 27, who was pulled over by a trooper early Saturday morning for swerving across lane lines. His arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.

In Sag Harbor, village police charged an Atlanta woman with drunken driving early Sunday morning after her vehicle struck a parked car and then a telephone pole on Grand Street.

Bridget D. O’Neill, 36, threw her vehicle into reverse after hitting the car and backed into the pole, police said. She was bleeding from the nose and mouth when officers arrived, and was taken to Southampton Hospital by the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Conscious but in pain, she consented to have blood drawn at the hospital, to be used to determine her blood-alcohol content.

Ms. O’Neill, who faces an additional charge of improper lane use, will be arraigned in Sag Harbor Justice Court on June 23, by which time the results of the blood test should be known.