East Hampton Man Held On High Bail After Felony DWI Arrest

An East Hampton man with a history of drunken driving convictions took someone's car out for a joyride and is now being held at the jail on a total of $30,200 cash and $101,000 bond following an arrest on Sunday, according to East Hampton Town police.

Diego A. Sisalima Carchipulla, who is 24, was arrested in Wainscott at about 1:15 a.m., following a tip about an erratic driver. A white sedan was reported to be "all over the roadway" traveling west on Montauk Highway. Police found the driver inside the Hess-mart.

While police looked up information on the 1997 Mercury, the driver got back behind the wheel and proceeded to pull out and head east. Police said he did not signal while making a left onto the highway. The officer followed the vehicle, which slowed to 20 mph and then back up to 40 mph several times, the report said. The vehicle also reportedly drifted halfway into the westbound lane before the driver tried to correct it, only to drift into the eastbound shoulder.

Police stopped him on Woods Lane, near Toilsome Lane, in East Hampton Village. He appeared intoxicated and failed all field sobriety tests, police said. An empty can of Beck's beer was observed on the rear floor, and an empty bottle of Heineken beer was located behind the passenger seat, according to his arrest report.

The driver provided police with name "Diego Pizarro," and even spelled it out for police, they said. He was warned about lying. Police said they found an Ecuadorian identification with his real name in his wallet.

Placed under arrest for drunken driving, the charge was elevated to a felony due to a prior conviction of operating a motor vehicle with a .08 or more in the Town of East Hampton in November of 2011, and a misdemeanor aggravated DWI conviction for driving with a blood alcohol level above .18 in Nassau County on Oct. 22, 2012.

His privilege to operate a motor vehicle was revoked after the first offense n 2011, suspended for failure to pay a driver responsibility assessment in February 2012, and revoked due to the aggravated DWI conviction later that year.

Also, the court ordered the defendant to install an Ignition Interlock device in his vehicle that would test if there was alcohol on his breath. The device was not present in the car on Sunday.

Charged with two felonies — DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree — as well as two misdemeanors — false personation and aggravated DWI (the report indicated his blood alcohol level was above .18), the defendant was held for arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court. Justice Lisa R. Rana set bail at $30,000 cash or $100,000 bond.

Sisalima Carchipulla was about to be sent to the Suffolk County jail in lieu of bail when police tacked on another charge. At 10:45 a.m., the owner of the Mercury approached police to press charges against him for using it without his permission. He was held overnight to be arraigned on the additional charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, on Monday morning.

Bail was set at $200 cash or $1,000 bond on the additional charge.

He was turned over to the custody of the Suffolk County Sheriff's office.