‘Not Supposed to Be Driving’

An East Hampton man was released Tuesday from the county jail, where he had been held since last Thursday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated and without a license, both felonies.

James B. Brew, 41, was riding a 2006 black Harley-Davidson on Town Lane in Amagansett at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 16 when, according to East Hampton Town police, he failed to heed a stop sign. Failing roadside sobriety tests, he was placed under arrest. “I know I’m not supposed to be driving,” he reportedly told the officer.

Mr. Brew was convicted in August of a misdemeanor D.W.I. charge, after which his license was suspended for six months. The conviction and suspension triggered the two felony charges. After both arrests he refused to take the breath test at police headquarters.

In addition to the felonies, he faces a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle without the required ignition interlock device. He was cited for several violations as well: Police said the motorcycle was neither registered nor insured. 

Bail was set at $5,000, which Mr. Brew could not meet. Under the New York State Penal Law, a prisoner charged with a felony who is unable to post bail must be released 120 hours after being arrested if no indictment has been obtained. It usually takes a few weeks to obtain an indictment on a felony drunken-driving charge.

A Southampton teen, whose name was withheld by police due to his age, was charged with driving while impaired by drugs on the evening of Dec. 9. Town police had received a call that a car was stopped on a “dangerous curve” on Montauk Highway in Montauk, halfway out on the road.

An officer reported finding a young man on his knees outside the 2015 Chevrolet, which had its engine running. The key fob was in the youth’s pocket.

Bail was set for the 18-year-old, who lives on Millfarm Lane, at $2,000, an amount much higher than would normally be set for an East End resident on a first offense, indicating that this was not his first brush with the law. His parents posted the bail.

A Springs man was charged with misdemeanor D.W.I. Sunday night after being pulled over on Springs-Fireplace Road there; police said he was swerving across lane lines. Christian H. Penaloza-Gutama, 28, was released the next morning after posting the $500 bail set by East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.