Three Weeks Off Probation

“Nice to see you again, Mr. McCarron,” East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana said when Michael Luke McCarron was brought before her for arraignment Monday morning. “You just got off probation, what, three weeks ago?”

The Montauk man, 26, faces a felony charge of drunken driving. Pulled over on Amagansett Main Street a little after midnight Sunday for a traffic infraction, he told an officer that “I had a beer earlier.” He was arrested after failing roadside sobriety tests, according to the report. Back at East Hampton Town police headquarters, police said he refused to take the breath test.

Mr. McCarron was first arrested in July 2013 on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated drunken driving. Police said at the time that his breath test produced a reading of .22, over twice the .08 number that defines intoxication. Justice Rana presided over that case, which ended in a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor, a thousand-dollar fine, and a sentence of three years on probation, starting Jan. 19, 2014. Taking note of the defendant’s local roots, Justice Rana released him without bail.

She was not so sanguine Saturday morning, given the felony charge, setting bail at $3,000. Mr. McCarron’s mother, who was in the courtroom, said she would post that amount.

“Your driving privilege is suspended for two reasons,” Justice Rana warned; first because of his refusal to take the breath test, second because he had been convicted of D.W.I. within the past five years. “You cannot drive,” she concluded.

Two drivers whose breath tests were said to register over .18 face the aggravated charge of driving while intoxicated. Jefferson P. Pulla-Duchitanga, of Springs, 20, told Justice Rana during his Monday arraignment that he had been living here for only a few weeks, raising concern that he might be a flight risk. Bail was set at $2,500, which was posted by his family.

The other driver was Colleen Elisabeth Tozser-Bechhoff of Manorville, 25, whose 2004 Toyota 4-Runner was pulled over Saturday night after it allegedly ran the stop sign at West Lake Drive and Route 27 in Montauk. She was released Sunday without bail.

Marcos Aramis Serra-Bencosme, 26, was stopped early Saturday morning in Montauk, where he lives, when town police reportedly saw his 2013 Honda speeding on Edgemere Street. His breath test produced a .11 number. He too was released without bail.

Also freed without bail was Franklin Spence, 70, of Winston-Salem, N.C., who pulled his 2017 Chevrolet Impala into a driveway on Division Street in Sag Harbor a little before midnight Saturday and sat there. The residents, concerned, called Sag Harbor Village police. Mr. Spence, who reportedly told them he was waiting for someone, spent the rest of the night in a holding cell at headquarters.

Two alcohol-related car crashes were reported by police; one in Southampton, the other in Springs. On Tuesday night, Geoffrey M. Briggs of Sag Harbor, 27, lost control of his 2001 Saab on North Sea Road near Millstone Brook Road in North Sea and crashed into a tree. Southampton Town police said he refused to take the breath test at headquarters, where he was held overnight. He was to be arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court yesterday.

Around midnight Friday, a 2010 Toyota Tundra driven by Norman Aguilar of Springs, 50, crashed through a picket fence in front of a Glade Street residence. The homeowner called police, who were quickly on the scene. Mr. Aguilar’s breath test at headquarters produced a reading of .15, according to police, who charged him with both misdemeanor D.W.I. and unlicensed driving. A longtime resident of the town, he was released without bail.

A more serious car crash that set a Hayground Road residence ablaze Sunday morning, after which the driver was charged with drunken driving, is covered elsewhere in this issue.