Two Charged With D.W.I.

A Springs man will be arraigned on felony charges of drunken driving in East Hampton Town Justice Court next Thursday. Manuel A. Peralta, 35, was arrested early Sunday morning on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road in Springs.                     

In 2012, Mr. Peralta was arrested over the Labor Day weekend on the same charge, but at the misdemeanor level. He was convicted, making the new charge a felony.

East Hampton Town police, who said he was speeding before they pulled him over Sunday, impounded the 2014 Nissan he was driving; if it belongs to him and he is convicted again, it will be sold at a county auction. He was additionally charged with unlicensed driving, also a felony as his driving privileges were revoked following the D.W.I. conviction.

Because Mr. Peralta has a medical condition that necessitated a trip to Southampton Hospital, his arraignment was put off until next week.

Also charged with driving while intoxicated early Sunday was Matthew T. Knoblock, 29, of Montauk. He too has a prior conviction on the charge, but the outcome of that arrest, which occurred in Ohio in 2005, was quite different.

At the time, Mr. Knoblock was serving in the Air Force, he told Justice Lisa R. Rana during his arraignment later Sunday, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service. The year after, he told her, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge.

Justice Rana released him without bail, but with a future date on her calendar.