Woman Faces Felony Charge

Vehicular accidents and high blood-alcohol readings led to several arrests on drunken-driving charges this past week. Three of the drivers have been arrested before for the same offense.

On the afternoon of Jan. 20, Sag Harbor Village police found Gail Schiavoni’s 2013 Hyundai stopped on the pavement in front of Harbor Pets on Bay Street after she drove onto the sidewalk, striking a boulder. Ms. Schiavoni, 55, failed roadside sobriety tests, said Lt. Austin McGuire.

The Sag Harbor woman was arrested in Southampton Town in 2011 after another daytime accident and pleaded guilty afterward to driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor. This time the charge is a felony.

At police headquarters, a breath test produced a reading of 0.19, high enough to trigger an even more serious charge of aggravated drunken driving.

Ms. Schiavoni was held overnight for arraignment last Thursday. Sag Harbor Village’s Justice Lisa R. Rana was presiding in East Hampton Town Justice Court that morning, and the defendant was brought there by Sag Harbor police. In addition to the D.W.I. charge, she faces a misdemeanor count of driving without an ignition interlock device, required because of the prior conviction.

Justice Rana set bail at $2,000. Ms. Schiavoni was taken back to Sag Harbor headquarters, where bail was posted. She will be back in court in April.

Also charged with D.W.I. this week following an accident was Matthew W. Schuppe of East Hampton, 27, who was at the wheel of the same 2001 Jeep he was driving when East Hampton Town police pulled him over less than two years before.

Police said Mr. Schuppe had had an accident Friday night on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road, East Hampton, a winding road that was just beginning to be coated by what would become winter storm Jonas, and that he had then driven away. A caller reported the incident, and police found the Jeep soon after. Mr. Schuppe, who was not wearing a seat belt, refused to take the field test, they said, adding two more violations to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage.

At headquarters, he did take the test to determine his alcohol level. It reportedly registered 0.22, triggering the aggravated charge.

Following his earlier arrest the breath test number was not nearly as high, and Mr. Schuppe was allowed to plead to a lesser charge, driving with ability impaired, a violation. Because he has never been convicted of drunken driving, the current charge will remain at the misdemeanor level. He was freed after posting $500 bail.

Another man arrested Friday night was Sergio V. Mendez-Rojas, 30, of Sag Harbor, who was also involved in a minor accident. Town police said he ran into a parked car on North Main Street, and refused to take the breath test after being brought to headquarters in Wainscott. Bail was set the next morning at $500, which was posted.

An hour after stopping Mr. Mendez-Rojas, and a block away, police arrested Jorge Alejandro Jarama-Saenz, 30, of Springs. He was passed out behind the wheel of a 2004 Nissan Maxima, they said, at the intersection of Collins Avenue and Accabonac Road, “with the keys in the ignition, while wearing his seat belt, and his foot on the brake.” The engine was on, police said. The man was described as “unresponsive, but breathing.”

Mr. Mendez-Rojas’s breath test produced a reported reading of 0.16. He was released the next morning without bail, but with a future date on Justice Rana’s busy criminal calendar.

Also charged with D.W.I. last week was Charles W. Query of Springs, 24, who was pulled over Sunday night on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road. Police said that a search of the driver and his vehicle turned up a small amount of marijuana as well as a small weapon, not further described. Mr. Query was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor, and possession of marijuana, a violation.

The next morning, he told the court he is originally from North Carolina. He has a prior arrest, apparently in his native state, but his Legal Aid Society lawyer, Brian Francese, told Justice Rana that that charge had been dismissed, and asked that Mr. Query be released without bail.

Justice Rana disagreed, setting bail at $500. As the defendant was led away she told him, “You might want to consider going to A.A.” Mr. Query, who was looking in her direction, apparently smiled at the suggestion. “That is not a joke,” Justice Rana said.