S.U.V. Wound Up in Bay

A 27-year-old medical student was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving Saturday night after his 2012 Toyota S.U.V. ended up in Gardiner’s Bay.

Nicholas A. Pierce, who told East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky during his Sunday morning arraignment that he was working at Southampton Hospital as part of his training, was headed north on Springs-Fireplace Road-Hog Creek Lane toward its terminus at the bay beach when his car glanced off a parked car at the end of the road and continued on into the water. He reportedly told police he had had a few beers and fallen asleep behind the wheel.

The Toyota’s front passenger side struck the driver’s side of the 2009 Ford, which was itself propelled into the bay. The water is very shallow at that beach, East Hampton Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson said on Tuesday, and both cars wound up in about a foot deep.

The driver of the Ford, Shirin Marefat, called police. Both drivers declined medical attention, but the vehicles were another story. Both had to be towed, and may have sustained substantial damage, depending upon how much water got into the engines.

Mr. Pierce failed roadside sobriety tests, police said, and refused to take the roadside breath test, which is considered a violation. Back at headquarters, he reportedly refused to take the stationhouse breath test as well.

When it came time to set bail, Mr. Pierce presented something of a problem for Justice Tekulsky. He told the justice he was only at Southampton Hospital through April, after which he was scheduled to report to a hospital in Toronto.

“Your ties to the community are slim,” Justice Tekulsky said. “You haven’t been here very long, and you are leaving very soon.” He set bail at $1,000, which was posted that day. Mr. Pierce is to be back in court on March 31.

Four other men were in the courtroom for arraignment Sunday morning, three of them also charged with driving while intoxicated.

Theodore R. Zorn, 29, of Springs was westbound on Montauk’s Main Street near Second House Road Saturday night when police stopped his 2005 Dodge, saying it was going 55 miles per hour in a 30-mile zone. Mr. Zorn consented to take the stationhouse breath test, which produced a reading of .19, elevating the misdemeanor charge to aggravated D.W.I. He was released without bail in consideration of his roots in the community.

Ronald R. Bennett of East Hampton, 57, driving a 1993 Chevrolet, was in an accident Saturday night at the intersection of Springs-Fireplace Road and Abraham’s Path in East Hampton. He failed the field sobriety tests, according to police, who recorded his blood-alcohol level at headquarters at .15, almost twice the legal limit. Mr. Bennett, a longtime resident of the town, was also freed without bail.

The third driver, Rolfi E. Velasquez-Perez, was arrested Saturday night on Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton. Police said his breath test produced a .13 reading, the lowest of the week but still well over the .08 level that triggers a drunken-driving charge. He was additionally charged with misdemeanor unlicensed driving. “I am ordering you not to drive,” Justice Tekulsky said as he set bail at $500, which was posted.

Andres J. Mejia-Orellana of Springs, 33, was arrested on Friday night and charged with felony D.W.I., thanks to a May 2012 drunken-driving conviction, as well as unlicensed driving, also at the felony level.

Police said Mr. Mejia-Orellana’s 2001 Nissan struck a parked car as he was parking it on North Main Street in East Hampton, and that he was walking away when an officer stopped him. Police seized the Nissan.

Bail was set at $7,500, which was posted. “Your privileges to drive, which you didn’t have in the first place, and which were previously suspended, are suspended yet again,” Justice Tekulsky said the next morning. “Are you still on probation?” he asked. “No” was the answer. “That is lucky.”

Jose Fernandez-Chuqui of Springs, 21, was charged with misdemeanor D.W.I. last Thursday afternoon, having been stopped on Cedar Street near Hand’s Creek Path after swerving repeatedly into oncoming traffic. A laborer who has been living in East Hampton for the past two years, his breath test reading at headquarters was recorded at 0.19.  Bail was set at $750. Mr. Fernandez-Chuqui spent that night in the county jail before bail was posted in Riverside.

Reda B. Bahi, 44, was the fifth man arraigned here on Sunday morning, charged with misdemeanor unlicensed driving, police said, after his 2009 Jeep ran a stop sign at Abraham’s Path and Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton. A computer check revealed that his license had been suspended following a 2010 D.W.I. conviction.

Bail was set at $1,000, but Mr. Bahi will not be released even should it be posted because, Justice Tekulsky said, there is a warrant out for him in Pennsylvania. Mr. Bahi told the court he thought the matter had been cleared up. He was accused of “unlawful use of somebody’s car,” he said.

He remained in the county jail as of yesterday.