Two Men Face Three Felony DWI Charges

East Hampton Town police made four arrests this past week on DWI charges, with two of the defendants charged at the felony level.

A Springs man is facing three felony charges, including aggravated driving while intoxicated, after his arrest by East Hampton Town police early Saturday morning, July 27. Arnold Rivas-Ovalle, 22, was driving a 2010 Mazda when he was pulled over for doing 55 miles per hour on Springs Fireplace Road, where the limit is 40, the police said. Failing sobriety tests, he was arrested on a DWI charge. Because his breath test at headquarters was reportedly over .18, the charge was raised to aggravated.

In 2016, East Hampton Village police arrested Rivas-Ovalle in the parking lot of the Blue Parrot, after he had ridden his motorcycle on the Main Street sidewalk. As a first-time offender, he was charged with DWI as a misdemeanor, albeit at the aggravated level, as his BAC was .20. He took a guilty plea in May 2017.

In 2016, when he was arrested, he did not have a driver’s license, according to the charges at the time. After his 2017 conviction, Rivas-Ovalle’s ability to get a license in the first place was revoked and had not been restored as of his most recent arrest, leading to a felony unlicensed driving charge. In addition, East Hampton Town Justice Lisa Rana again revoked his license during his arraignment July 27, meaning that his license is now suspended or revoked three times over.

“You cannot drive,” Rana warned him, before setting bail at $7500. In addition, his latest arrest could mean a violation of his current probation, Rana said. Bail was posted.

Another man in very similar circumstances is Ernesto Pulla-Vizcho, 34, who was arrested at about 7 AM on Sunday, July 28. He, too, had a prior DWI arrest in 2016 in East Hampton.

Pulla-Vizcho was pulled over on Springs Fireplace Road for a traffic infraction, police said, leading to his arrest. At headquarters, his breath test produced a reading at .22, the police said. He was charged with the same three felonies as Rivas-Ovalle; aggravated drunken driving based on the breath test, DWI based on the arresting officer’s observations, and aggravated unlicensed driving. Both men are also facing a misdemeanor charge of driving a vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock, which turns the engine on only after the driver takes a breath test.

Bail was set at $5000, which was posted.

The other two men arrested by town police were charged with DWI at the misdemeanor level.

The driver of a 2016 Tao Tao moped was charged with after falling off the vehicle near the intersection of West Lake and Old West Lake Drives in Montauk around sunset on Thursday, July 25, town police reported. A concerned witness dialed 911, bringing an officer to the scene. Wayne Kelly, 60, of Lindenhurst, was ultimately charged with aggravated DWI as a misdemeanor, after a breath test at headquarters produced an alleged reading of .21. He was released after being arraigned the next day without bail.

A Hampton Bays man told police he was using his GPS, headed to points east, when, in Amagansett, he followed it, veering from Montauk Highway onto Cranberry Hole Road Friday night, July 26. Leonardo Gonzalez Cruz, 28, said in the report that he tried to swing the 2005 Infiniti Suburban he was driving back onto the highway, but lost control. The vehicle rolled over, ending up on the grassy island at the fork in the road, the police reported.

He was arraigned on a misdemeanor first time DWI charge the next morning and was released without bail.

t.e@indyeastend.com