After a 77-year-old woman was injured in a two-vehicle collision last Thursday evening, East Hampton Town police charged Otto Wilfredo Racsuburuj with two counts of driving while intoxicated and one count of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries.
According to a police report, Mr. Racsuburuj, in a 2007 Ford pickup truck that is registered in Texas, collided head-on with Ursula Thomas of East Hampton at about 7:30 as they were driving in opposite directions on Oakview Highway in East Hampton. He fled the scene, police said, but officers caught up with him a short distance away, on Middle Highway. Ms. Thomas, who had been driving a 2017 Kia, was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital with a head injury.
An officer said Mr. Racsuburuj, 38, a resident of East Hampton, performed poorly on field sobriety tests. A breath test was given, producing a blood-alcohol reading over the legal limit, which is .08 of 1 percent.
He was arraigned on the misdemeanor charges and a count of uninsured driving, a violation, on Friday morning in East Hampton Town Justice Court, and was released on his own recognizance by Justice Lisa R. Rana. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 6.
In Sag Harbor, a D.W.I. charge followed another accident, this one involving a parked vehicle, on Saturday at around 2:15 a.m. Village police said Clarence A. Gasby of East Hampton, 67, was on his way home from the American Hotel in his 1999 Mercedes Benz when he struck a parked pickup truck. The car then jumped a curb on the opposite side of the road and came to a stop on the sidewalk. The driver was so intoxicated, police reported, that “field sobriety tests were terminated for the safety of the defendant.” Corwith’s towed both vehicles, which were said to have sustained “significant damage.”
Complaining of back pain, Mr. Gasby was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton. There, he refused a chemical test three times. He was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and three traffic infractions, and is to answer the charges on Friday, Dec. 24, in the village court.