Towns Crack Down On Drunk Driving

Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini’s East End DWI Task Force conducted anti-drunken driving sweeps in East Hampton, Southampton, and Riverhead towns Friday night into Saturday morning, resulting in eight arrests.

Two of those arrests occurred in East Hampton, one of which was not on a drunken driving charge, but, rather, a felony narcotics possession charge. That arrest is detailed below.

Michael Muller, 48, of East Hampton was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. He was pulled over a little before midnight Friday, November 23. Police said Muller was behind the wheel of a 2018 Ford pickup on Route 114 when he was stopped for tailgating. Muller refused to take a breath test at headquarters, leading East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky to suspend his license for the next year, pending a follow-up hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Muller, who has owned a home in East Hampton for many years, was released without bail.

Besides village officers, the East Hampton Town police patrols were augmented by New York State troopers during the sweep.

Riverhead Town police were joined by officers from the Westhampton Beach Police Department and the Quogue Village Police Department. Multiple checkpoints were set up across the town, resulting in three arrests on misdemeanor charges. Coleen Wright, 30, of Rocky Point was charged with DWI, and Matthew Fineron, 22, of Riverhead was charged with driving with ability impaired by drugs. Alexander Blue Logan, 25, of Farmingville, apparently a passenger in Fineron’s car, was charged with possession of both cocaine and marijuana. All three were held overnight, to be arraigned in the Riverhead Town Justice Court. The bail terms were not released.

In Southampton Town, police were joined by members of the Suffolk County sheriff’s office operating what are called saturation patrols, when the extra officers are stationed in areas police believe have a higher percentage of drunken drivers. In three cases after midnight Saturday, those stops led to DWI charges.

Harrol Zapata-Borrero, 44, of Hampton Bays was pulled over on Main Street in that hamlet after making an alleged illegal U-turn, while two Riverhead residents were arrested in Flanders, Valerio Zet-Canel, 46, and Kener Gonzalez-Hosollos, 25. The two men were said to have swerved across lane lines, leading to their stops. All three were arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court Saturday morning, with release conditions not known.

The East End DWI Task Force is funded in part through Suffolk County’s asset forfeiture program and, in part, from fines and fees collected from those convicted of drunken driving.

t.e@indyeastend.com