Two Asleep at the Pump

The Hess station in Wainscott was the scene Sunday of two alcohol-related arrests, with a third made later that day about a quarter-mile away, also in Wainscott.

East Hampton Town police said the arrests at the gas station involved drivers whom they found passed out behind the wheels of their cars, which were pulled up at gas pumps. One of the two men, Juan G. Chuquiana-Flores, 30, faces multiple felony charges.

Captain Chris Anderson said a caller had reported the man’s car, a 1995 Toyota with Illinois plates, parked at the pump with the driver asleep inside. It was 3:17 a.m.

Mr. Chuquiana-Flores performed “poorly” on roadside sobriety tests and was taken to police headquarters, where his breath test reportedly produced a reading of .16 of 1 percent, over twice the legal limit.

Several of his friends and family members were in the courtroom later that morning as he was arraigned before East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana, who explained the multiple dark legal clouds now gathering over him.

“You have two prior D.W.I.s,” she said, including “a felony D.W.I. conviction on July 10, 2012,” followed by 10 months in jail. Two years before, she noted, Mr. Chuquiana-Flores had been convicted of aggravated drunken driving at the misdemeanor level.

Along with the felony D.W.I. charges, he now faces a charge of unlicensed driving, also a felony, along with a slew of other road-related counts including driving without insurance or registration. Police also said the Illinois plates did not appear to belong with the car, which was seized by police, as required under county law pertaining to felony drunken driving charges. If the car is found not to belong to the defendant, it will ultimately be released to its rightful owner.

Justice Rana asked Mr. Chuquiana-Flores where he lived. He replied he had moved recently, and was now living near Moriches. “You cannot drive,” she warned, as she suspended his already revoked driving privileges. “Do not drive.” Licenses can be suspended or revoked multiple times over.

The court told the defendant that the district attorney’s office had asked bail to be set at $25,000. After reviewing his record, and the current charges, she agreed that he was a flight risk, and set bail at $20,000. He was being held at the county jail in Riverside as of Tuesday, and will be brought back to court today, unless he has been indicted by a grand jury, which would kick the case up to state court, also in Riverside. If unindicted, he could be released today.

About an hour before the arrest of Mr. Chuquiana-Flores, an officer found the other Hess sleeper, this time in a 2003 Acura with New Jersey plates.

According to Captain Anderson, the officer rapped on the window several times, but the sleeping man did not stir. Angel C. Deleg-Tenecota, 32, was ultimately charged with driving while intoxicated as well as unlicensed driving. He has no prior convictions, so the charges are misdemeanors. However, his breath test produced a reading of .18, the level that triggers an elevated charge of aggravated D.W.I.

He told Justice Rana he had just moved to East Hampton from New Jersey, but was not sure of his Three Mile Harbor Road address. He also did not know the phone numbers of his residence or workplace. The numbers were on his iPhone, he said, which had died.

“Somebody at the police station must have a charger,” Justice Rana said as she set bail at $500. Apparently a charger was found, as bail was posted later that day.

The week’s third arrest happened in the afternoon, on Montauk Highway about a quarter mile east of Hess. Marvin Ernesto Flores-Saldana, 31, of Springs, was headed east at about 4:45 p.m. when, according to two witnesses, his 2000 Honda crossed into the westbound lane, where it collided with a 2014 Suburban driven by a Bayport woman.

In the passenger seat of the Suburban was an older woman, and in the rear were two children, a 5-year-old and a toddler. The children were unhurt, but the driver and her front-seat passenger complained of pain, though they declined medical attention. Both vehicles sustained major damage and were towed away.

Back at headquarters, where Mr. Flores-Saldana was taken after reportedly failing field sobriety tests, his breath test was reported at .1999. Breath test results are always rounded down, in the defendant’s favor, so the official reading was recorded at .19, still high enough to trigger the aggravated-level charge.

He was also charged with driving without a license and driving on the wrong side of the road. Bail was set at $500 on Monday morning and was posted.