Arrested On Felony Drunk Driving Charge, With ICE Hold

A 21-year-old Sag Harbor man is facing possible deportation after being arrested by village police on a felony drunken driving charge Friday afternoon, October 5. According to police, the owner of a 2013 Toyota pickup was inside a house on Hampton Street Friday at about 2 PM when he heard a crash outside. He told police he saw a 2014 pickup being driven by Jefferson Pulla Duchitanga drive away after having sideswiped his vehicle.

Police quickly caught up with Pulla Duchitanga, who they said appeared to be drunk and failed sobriety tests. When police ran his license, they discovered he had been convicted on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated drunken driving in East Hampton in August 2017.

A driving while intoxicated charge is automatically raised to the aggravated level when a breath test shows a percentage of 0.18 or higher in the blood. Police said Pulla Duchitanga’s reading came in at 0.20, triggering the aggravated charge, which was elevated to a felony because of his previous conviction. Pulla Duchitanga was also charged with felony unlicensed driving. The pickup truck was seized by police, as required by county law.

He was arraigned before Justice Lisa Rana in Sag Harbor on Saturday morning. She said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had sent the police a detainer request. Pulla Duchitanga, who is originally from Ecuador, was in the ICE database because he was picked up by border patrol officers in 2013 after illegally crossing the Rio Grande at the border, according to ICE.

Bail was set at $7500. He was picked up later Saturday morning by Suffolk County sheriffs, who transported him to the county jail in Riverside, where he remained as of Monday afternoon. Even if that amount is posted, the sheriff’s office will hold Pulla Duchitanga until ICE can come and pick him up, as long as it is within 48 hours.

Also charged with DWI in Sag Harbor over the weekend was Jasmine Flores, 21, of Springs. Flores was pulled over on Hampton Street early Sunday morning for swerving across lane lines. She was released after being arraigned on the misdemeanor charges later that same day without having to post bail.

Bridget Canavan, 22, of Sag Harbor was charged with aggravated DWI early morning September 22. She was released that day without bail.

Sag Harbor police announced last week the arrest of an 80-year-old Washington, CT, woman on a petty larceny charge. Police said Pearl Meyers was caught on video shoplifting a Madeline Thompson cashmere sweater, valued at $359, from the Henry Lehr store on Main Street. She was stopped by East Hampton Village police, who turned her over to Sag Harbor officers. After Meyers was processed in Sag Harbor, she was released on a desk bail of $400. After being released, police said she returned the sweater. She will be arraigned in the Sag Harbor Village Justice Court next month.

t.e@indyeastend.com