EH DWIs Include Felony For Child Being In Car

The long Fourth of July week saw eight arrests across East Hampton Town and Village on driving while intoxicated charges, one of them a felony.

Aidderman Raul Ospina, 32, of Hampton Bays was pulled over by an East Hampton Village officer around midnight on July 4. The officer said that Ospina was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe west on Main Street erratically and had accelerated to 40 miles per hour after making the turn onto Woods Lane, where the limit is 30.

In the backseat of the Tahoe was a 12-year-old child, police said. Ospina allegedly told the arresting officer that he had consumed two beers while watching the Montauk July Fourth fireworks, from which he was returning home. Ospina appeared intoxicated, the officer reported, and failed sobriety tests.

Ospina was placed under arrest on a felony charge of aggravated DWI, as well as a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. The felony was charged under Leandra’s Law, named for Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl who died in a crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan that involved a drunk driver in 2009.

Ospina was arraigned on July 5 in East Hampton Town Justice Court in front of Justice Lisa Rana, who said that it appeared that Ospina was driving despite having had his license revoked by the state, and, given the seriousness of the charges, set bail at $5000, which was posted.

While the other seven charged with DWI were all at the misdemeanor level, two of them were charged at the aggravated drunken driving level, for having an excessively high amount of alcohol in their blood when they were arrested, according to the police.

On July 4, Anthony Frascone, 53, of Suffern, NY, was driving a 1995 Ford van east on Abrahams Landing Road near Old Stone Highway in Amagansett when an officer questioned him about his alleged erratic driving. After his arrest on the DWI charge, he took the breath test at headquarters, with a reported reading of .21 of one percent, over the .18 mark that triggers the raised aggravated charge.

Troy Lupinacci, 40, had the highest BAC reading of the week, according to the police, at .25. He was driving a 2017 Nissan when he was pulled over by a town officer on Woods Lane a little after 6:30 PM on July 5.

Both men were released without bail.

Ryan Michael Powell, 44, of Prairie Village, KS, pulled out of the Swallow East parking lot onto Westlake Drive in a 2019 Mitsubishi the night of July 2 without turning on his headlights, police said, leading to his stop, and arrest.

Jill Rebecca Rutsky, 52, was arrested a little before midnight, July 3. Town police said she was in a 2014 Hyundai on Abrahams Path by Birdie Lane, doing 48 mph in a 30-mph zone. Thomas John Lobue, 52, of Manhattan and Water Mill, was driving a 2014 Range Rover on Woods Lane, moving at 45 mph when a village officer pulled him over, police said.

Powell, Rutsky, and Lobue were all held overnight, and released the following morning after being arraigned, without bail.

East Hampton Town police deployed extra officers supplied by the East End DWI task force, which is funded by the district attorney’s office. The operation brings officers in from other East End jurisdictions to aid in the fight against drunken driving. The operation was run between 8 PM July 5 and 4 AM July 6, and resulted in the arrest of two brothers from Springs, detailed elsewhere.

t.e@indyeastend.com