An East Hampton woman crashed into the new CVS Pharmacy building on Montauk Highway Monday night and was charged afterward with driving while intoxicated, a felony due to a prior conviction.
When a village police officer arrived at CVS shortly after the accident, which began in the parking lot, at about 4:40 p.m., he found Susan Ann Rieland, 60, exiting a Mini Cooper. Upon being questioned, she reportedly responded, “I don’t know what happened.” Police determined she had run over a curb and then into the building. There was no structural damage.
The driver appeared unsteady on her feet and smelled of alcohol, according to police. She admitted to having had “one cup” of wine, the report said. She failed field sobriety tests.
In addition to the felony D.W.I. charge, Ms. Rieland was charged with a misdemeanor for operating a motor vehicle without an ignition Interlock device. By court order, she should have installed the device, which checks for alcohol on the breath before the engine will start, on any vehicle she drives.
She was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital by the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, escorted by police, for evaluation. At 7:35 p.m., she was given a blood-alcohol test. The results are not yet available.
Upon her release from the hospital, Ms. Rieland was brought back to village police headquarters, where she spent the remainder of the night. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky released her in the morning on her own recognizance.
A 37-year-old man is facing two felony charges after town police found him intoxicated and “passed out” behind the wheel on Saturday morning. Police also said Luis F. Bermeo-Beletanga of East Hampton was driving without either a valid license or an Interlock device following a D.W.I. conviction three years ago.
Police said they found the man in the driver’s seat of a 2007 Jeep, its engine running, on Bruce Lane in Springs, near Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road, at about 5:10 a.m. His foot was on the brake and the Jeep was in drive, they said. The officer who woke him up said he was “uncoordinated and rolled down the rear window three times instead of the front window and was unable to lock the driver’s-side door.”
When Mr. Bermeo-Beletanga got out of the Jeep, police smelled alcohol on his breath. He also exhibited other signs of intoxication, and the officer said there was a partially full bottle of Heineken beer in the center console. The driver performed poorly on all field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest at 5:45 a.m.
In addition to felony drunken driving, he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, also a felony. Police said his driving privileges were revoked on Dec. 3, 2015, due to a D.W.I. conviction, suspended on Oct. 28, 2015, for failure to pay a driver responsibility assessment, and also suspended in April of 2002.
Lastly, he was charged with a misdemeanor for not having the Interlock device in the Jeep. Having missed the cutoff for a Saturday morning arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court, he was held until Sunday. Justice Steven Tekulsky released him on $1,500 bail.
Both drivers fled the scene of a two-car accident in East Hampton on Friday night, though one of them was quickly found and arrested on a charge of drunken driving.
According to police, Vilma Noemi Sohom Chorordecaniz, 31, was driving a 1997 Honda sedan south on North Main Street when she rear-ended another vehicle. Witnesses reported the accident to police at 7:19 p.m.
An officer found her four minutes later in the parking lot of 69 North Main Street, which is accessed from Talmage Lane, still in the Honda, which had major front-end damage. All of its airbags were deployed, the car was still smoking, and the key was in the ignition, according to Sgt. Dan Toia. An open bottle of alcohol was inside the car, he said.
The woman, who was not injured, was arrested at about 7:40 p.m. She faces charges of misdemeanor D.W.I., leaving the scene of an accident, driving without a license, and several traffic infractions. She was held overnight and released on her own recognizance Saturday morning after arraignment. The other driver has not been found.
Village police also charged a Springs man with driving while ability impaired, a violation, after an accident at about 5:40 p.m. Sunday. Wellington Vinico Rodriguez Pallars, 31, who was driving a 2000 Toyota sedan, hit a 2010 Dodge pickup truck driven by Francis J. Harvey of East Northport, which was stopped at a red light on Main Street, near Newtown Lane. Neither driver was hurt.
Police found the driver outside the vehicle and said he appeared intoxicated. A breath test, however, recorded his blood-alcohol content at between .05 and less than .07, leading to the D.W.A.I. charge.