Driver May Face Lifetime Revocation Of License

East Hampton Town police made two arrests on misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charges over the weekend. One driver, aside from his legal difficulties, is facing the possible loss of his license for life, under the DMV’s three strikes and you are out rule.

Carlos Saquicaray-Loja, 39, of East Hampton was behind the wheel of a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado Saturday evening, February 9, headed south on Route 114 when he was pulled over for allegedly swerving into the oncoming lane of traffic. Police said he appeared drunk, and he failed sobriety tests. After being placed under arrest, he refused to take a breath test at headquarters. During his arraignment Sunday morning, East Hampton Town Justice Stephen Tekulsky told Saquicaray-Loja, (whose name has alternately been spelled by police as Saquicarayloja) that he was suspending his driver’s license, pending a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles, for refusing to take the breath test.

Brian DeSesa, a private attorney, was on hand to represent Saquicaray-Loja as part of the weekend arraignment program. DeSesa told Justice Tekulsky that the defendant has resided in East Hampton for 20 years, is gainfully employed, and will be hiring an attorney for the case. Justice Tekulsky agreed that $250 was a fair amount for bail, which Saquicaray-Loja posted.

Saquicaray-Loja has been arrested in East Hampton Town on the same charge twice before, in 2005 and in 2011. In both cases, he was allowed to plead down from the original misdemeanor charge to a simple violation charge of driving with ability impaired, which, unlike a misdemeanor, is not a crime, meaning Saquicaray-Loja does not have a criminal record.

That option is not available to Saquicaray-Loja on this go-round. Under state law, a third ability impaired conviction, lifetime, remains a misdemeanor.

That could be the least of his problems. While he does not have a criminal record, Saquicaray-Loja could be looking at, if convicted, a five-year revocation of his driver’s license. That revocation could extend for his entire life, if he has what the DMV classifies as a “serious driver’s offense” on his record. That would include two five-point ticket convictions within the past 25 years, or an aggregate of 20 points in that time period on his license.

The second man arrested was an 18-year-old East Hampton teen. His name was withheld by police and the court because as a first-time teen offender, he is eligible for youthful offender status. Police said the teen was driving a 2003 Chrysler Friday, February 8, around midnight when he crashed into a tree on Town Lane. He allegedly left the vehicle and walked down Abrahams Path, before being stopped and questioned by police near Brent’s on Montauk Highway.

The youth reportedly told police he had consumed a quantity of Hennessy Cognac. He was released after being arraigned Saturday, to his mother. He faces a minimum six-month revocation, on top of any court-ordered suspension, under the DMV policy of zero tolerance for youthful intoxicated drivers.

t.e@indyeastend.com