Along with black ice gone from the roads and more drivers venturing out at night came three recent arrests for driving while intoxicated, the first such in several weeks.
All three arrests were of local men. Chester Schmid, 30, of Bridgehampton was charged in Sag Harbor, at midnight on March 11, when village police noticed his 2014 Chevrolet Silverado swerving into the oncoming lane at the intersection of Main and Union Streets. Mr. Schmid did poorly on roadside sobriety tests, police said, and spent the rest of the night in custody while awaiting a morning arraignment before Justice Lisa R. Rana.
In another midnight stop, Alejandro Suna of Sag Harbor, 46, was charged Sunday on Route 114 near Edwards Hole Road after officers clocked his 2003 Ford Mustang at 69 miles per hour in a 45 m.p.h. zone. He too failed the field tests, according to the report, and was held for the remainder of the night for a court appearance.
Stephen Fitzgerald of East Hampton earned an extra misdemeanor charge of second-degree harassment during his D.W.I. arrest at 7 p.m. on March 3. He had drawn attention to himself, police said, on Three Mile Harbor Road near Will Curl Highway in Springs, when he crossed the yellow line and sideswiped two other cars. Both drivers, Fanny Alvearmendez, 37, of East Hampton and Susan Feldstein, 78, of East Hampton, were uninjured. Mr. Fitzgerald was unable to complete the roadside tests, they reported. Police also alleged that he "purposefully shove[d] himself backwards . . . knocking PO Habe off balance, and then physically resisted being placed in a processing cell by refusing to walk in." He appeared in court the next morning, and again last Thursday.