With warmer weather on the way and the increasing availability of vaccines, more vehicles are out on the roads, and with them come a small but increasing number of alcohol-related arrests.
Last Thursday evening, Adison Chaikrham, 40, of East Hampton was slapped with a felony driving while intoxicated charge, meaning he had a previous conviction for the offense within the past 10 years. After another driver reported Mr. Chaikrham's 2020 green Mini Cooper swerving along Gould Street near Cedar Street in East Hampton both vehicles stopped on the street.
Mr. Chaikrham, according to police, "confronted" the other driver for calling him in. Officers found him outside his car, unable to complete sobriety tests. He was held overnight for a Friday-morning appearance before East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky, who released him in his own recognizance.
Cole Carithers, 32, of Bluffton, S.C. was arrested on the evening of April 5 after his black 2014 GMC Sierra ran a Main Street stop sign in Sag Harbor and swerved into the opposite lane. Sag Village police said he sped off, but that they caught up with him in the 7-Eleven parking lot, where he failed sobriety tests.
Back at police headquarters, "while finishing his prisoner food, the defendant did complain of withdrawal symptoms and did state that he needed to take valium," police reported, adding that he had an elevated pulse. He was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. There, he was treated before being returned to headquarters for the night. The next morning, he was arraigned before Justice Lisa Rana in Sag Harbor Justice Court.
Back in East Hampton on the afternoon of April 5, Diego Morocho Guarngo, 23, of East Hampton was charged with aggravated D.W.I. after a blood test recorded over twice the legal blood-alcohol level, according to town police. His gray 2004 Hyundai was turning left on North Main Street near Collins Avenue, police said, when he failed to yield right of way to a 2009 Mercedes convertible driven by John Stedila of East Hampton and sideswiped its driver's side. Mr. Guarngo fled, but Mr. Stedila followed him to Jennys Path nearest Stokes Court, where they waited for police arrival. After performing poorly on the roadside sobriety test, Mr. Guarngo was taken into custody and held for a morning arraignment.
Alcohol was not a factor last week when Bermudes Siguenza, a passenger in a Bistrian Gravel Corporation dump truck driven by Stephen Lester, complained of back pain after an accident on The Circle off Main Street in East Hampton Village. The dump truck had rear-ended a 2017 Toyota driven by Ronald Humphreys, which then ran into Jason Williams's 2018 GMC pickup. Mr. Lester told village police he had meant to hit the brake, but accidentally pressed the gas pedal. Mr. Siguenza was taken by East Hampton Ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.
The week's only other road-related incident, a car-deer collision, happened in Springs on Saturday around midnight, on Hildreth Place near Oceanview Avenue.
