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‘Unsafe Speed on Snow And Ice-Covered Roadway’

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 06:40

East Hampton Town police charged a Springs man with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated early Saturday morning after stopping his 2005 Honda on frozen Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road in Springs. Carlos G. Gutama-Mejia, 23, “was traveling at an unsafe speed on [the] snow and ice-covered roadway” before they pulled him over, according to the report.

At headquarters, his breath test reportedly produced a reading of .14, well in excess of the .08 number defining intoxication. He allegedly told police he had had three beers, and was on the way home with his girlfriend after spending the evening out.

Mr. Gutama-Mejia was charged with misdemeanor unlicensed driving as well. His license had been suspended for failing to deal with a traffic ticket, police said.

When Justice Lisa R. Rana asked him during his arraignment later Saturday morning if he had any money, he replied that he had $15. She agreed to release him without bail, saying he has ties in the community. But she warned him, after again suspending his driving privileges, that “You cannot drive.”

“Thank you,” the defendant replied. “I’m sorry.”

A Manhasset man, Robert A. Snedeker, 60, was arrested just before midnight Saturday on the same charge. Town police said his 2014 BMW was swerving across lane lines on Old Northwest Road in Wainscott.

His breath test produced a .11 reading. He told Justice Rana he would be hiring his own attorney, and she released him, also without bail.

Jeffrey H. Rimland of Sag Harbor, 66, also was arrested minutes before midnight Saturday on a D.W.I. charge. Sag Harbor Village police said they spotted his 2014 Audi A8 moving at a “high rate of speed” on Main Street and followed it north, pacing it at 39 miles per hour in a 25 m.p.h. zone. The arresting officer reported that the car crossed the double yellow lines at least twice, and said he found “an open bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut Champagne on the passenger floorboard, as well as two champagne flutes that still had liquid in them.”

Mr. Rimland reportedly refused to take the breath test, causing Justice Rana, who was on the bench at his arraignment in Sag Harbor, to revoke his driving privileges for the next year. He was freed without bail, but with a date on her Sag Harbor Justice Court criminal calendar.

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