A 48-year-old East Hampton man who police say fled following a Sunday night car accident is facing felony charges of drug possession and driving while intoxicated. This was not Antero Rueda-Quiceno's first brush with the law. Police said records show that in December 2010, he was convicted of D.W.I. in Southampton Town Justice Court.
Police pulled him over after midnight, after canvassing Pantigo Road in East Hampton for a dark-colored pickup truck matching the description of one that had left the scene of an earlier accident. Officer Andrea Kess found the truck and tried to pull it over, but, she said, Mr. Rueda-Quiceno continued driving west. He did finally stop, and showed multiple signs of intoxication, the officer reported, along with "a white, powdery substance" around his mouth.
Questioned about that, Mr. Rueda-Quiceno reportedly pulled from his pants pocket two small plastic bags containing a similar substance, and three more bags were later found near the passenger seat of his 2013 Ford pickup truck. Police determined the substance to be cocaine, measuring over 500 milligrams combined.
Mr. Rueda-Quiceno was arrested at 12:13 a.m., charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and two drunken-driving offenses, both felonies because of prior convictions. He was held for the rest of the night and appeared in the morning before East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky, who released him on his own recognizance to await a future date in court.
Karen Yasmit Sanchez of East Hampton, 21, was westbound on Napeague Saturday night, near Napeague Meadow Lane, when East Hampton Town police reportedly clocked her 2020 Toyota at 70 miles per hour in a 55-m.p.h. zone, weaving in and out of its lane. The report says Officer Kess noticed "a mixed alcoholic beverage" in the driver's-side cup holder, and Ms. Sanchez allegedly failed field sobriety tests. She was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, her first brush with the law, and with unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, after the officer found a plastic bag containing the green leafy substance on the floor in back. The driver was released in the morning on her own recognizance by Justice Tekulsky.
Erica J. Schwartzberg of Brooklyn, 38, was arrested shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday and charged with aggravated D.W.I. after a blood-alcohol test produced a reading over twice the legal limit, according to town police. She had driven her 2018 Mini Cooper over the road and into woods at the Abraham's Path/Springs-Fireplace Road intersection in East Hampton, police said. She was charged with the misdemeanor, a first offense, after failing field sobriety tests, and was held for a morning appearance before Justice Tekulsky, who released her on her own recognizance.
Marco A. Gomez-Arzate of East Hampton, 34, was charged on Aug. 30 with misdemeanor drunken driving after crashing his 2013 Cadillac into a tree, in the driveway of a Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road house near Squaw Road in Springs. Police said the car was still in drive when Officer Andrew Nimmo arrived, and that the driver did not perform satisfactorily on the roadside tests. Mr. Gomez-Arzate was arrested at 8:14 a.m. and was released on his own recognizance not long after by Justice Lisa R. Rana.
In Montauk on Aug. 30, at around 8 p.m., William C. Kinney, whom town police believed to be intoxicated, refused to perform field sobriety tests when asked, and tried, they said, to run away. Officer Daniel Habe, who had stopped his 2012 Toyota Prius on the Plaza, said Mr. Kinney, a 32-year-old Montauk resident, had been crossing the double yellow lines and driving onto the shoulder, and had failed to yield to an emergency vehicle.
Mr. Kinney reportedly had three open cans of White Claw hard seltzer and an open plastic container of vodka in the car, and showed multiple signs of intoxication, police said. He was charged with D.W.I. and resisting arrest; a separate report says the assistance of two other police officers was needed to subdue and handcuff him. Justice Rana released him on his own recognizance the next morning, with a future date to return to Justice Court.