EH Police: Two Charged With Felony DWI

Two men were arrested over the weekend by East Hampton Town police on felony driving while intoxicated charges. For one of the two, Juan Farez, the new felony charge complicates what is already a difficult legal predicament.

Farez, 34, of Springs was driving a 2017 Cadillac on Fort Pond Boulevard early Saturday morning, police said, going 80 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. He also is alleged to have run the stop sign at Springs Fireplace Road. After being pulled over at Springs Fireplace Road and Gardiners Avenue, police said, he failed sobriety tests, and was arrested on the DWI charge. It was charged at the felony level because he had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge four years ago in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

At headquarters, he refused to take a breath test, police said.

His legal woes are complicated greatly because he also has an open felony criminal mischief charge in East Hampton, after being arrested last August in the parking lot at Maidstone Park. According to the report, Farez took a key to the exterior of a female acquaintance’s 2009 Jeep Liberty, which was parked there the evening of August 12, and repeatedly gouged the vehicle on both sides, as well as on the front grill and bumper. Police estimated the damage at the time to be in excess of $2000.

Farez was brought into the town’s justice court Saturday morning to be arraigned on his newest charges. When it came time to set bail, Farez told the court, “I don’t have any money. I have to pay child support, and my attorney in the other case. Please help me.” He also said the owner of the Jeep he is alleged to have keyed is asking for $15,000 restitution, apparently the cost of a full paint job for the vehicle.

Justice Lisa Rana agreed to set bail at the amount Farez said he could post, $1000, but said to him, “These are really serious charges. You need to start helping yourself.” She pointed out that the speeding ticket was issued in a residential neighborhood, with narrow streets that frequently have no shoulders. “Somebody could have been walking on the side of the road,” she said.

Farez posted bail at police headquarters.

The other man charged with felony DWI was Angel Guillen, 39, of Amagansett. He was pulled over on Amagansett Main Street for allegedly speeding in a 2010 Jeep Sunday around 8 PM on Sunday. He was also charged at the felony level since he was convicted in East Hampton at the misdemeanor level in 2013. Besides the speeding ticket, and another for making an unsafe lane change, he was charged with a misdemeanor for reportedly not having an interlock device on the Jeep, required because of the prior conviction. He posted bail of $1000.

In addition to the two arrests on felony DWI charges, a Westhampton man was accused at the misdemeanor first-time offender level of drunken driving by East Hampton Town police this past weekend. Rene Saban-Tinti, 32, was pulled over a little after noon Saturday on Abraham’s Path after he swerved onto the grassy shoulder of the road, police said.

“I had five Coronas last night,” he reportedly told the arresting officer. Failing sobriety tests, he was taken to headquarters, where a breath test produced a .14 reading, over the .08 mark that defines intoxication, police said.

He was released the next day without having to post bail.

t.e@indyeastend.com