Crime & Safety

Police Logs: Despite Injuries, Alleged Drunken Driver Runs from Accident

Also: Driver says her passenger grabbed the steering wheel and almost killed them both.

The following information was supplied by the East Hampton Town Police Department. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

• Jose R. Inga, 42, of East Hampton, was arrested and charged with felony driving while intoxicated, among other charges, after the car he was driving hit a utility police on Queens Lane in East Hampton on Saturday around 5:20 p.m.

Police said Inga's 1998 Honda was found on the southside of Queens Road, about 100 feet west of the Accabonac Road intersection, with the pole, cut in half, toppled over on top of the car, but the driver was no where in sight.

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Police found Inga on Central Avenue, and they said he appeared intoxicated. Inga failed field sobriety tests and was transported to Southampton Hospital, where he consented to a blood test, police said. Due to his injuries, police said, they released him into hospital custody. They did not expound on what those injuries were. He will be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Sept. 19.

An accident report states that Inga's passenger — a 40-year-old man who also fled the scene but was found near the accident — was also injured and treated at the scene. He reportedly refused to be transported to the hospital.

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According to police, Inga has a prior DWI conviction from August 2009, which led to the new felony charge. His record shows he is also required to have an Interlock ignition device installed on any vehicle he drove. They found none on the Honda, and he was also charged with not using an Interlock Ignition device. In addition, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with an injury.

Driver Says Passenger Almost Killed Them

• Amy Miller, 58, of Manorville, was arrested on a charge of second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation, after a disagreement with a friend while they were driving in Amagansett on Sept. 12. The driver of a 2010 Lexus told police that Miller was sitting in the front passenger seat when they got into an argument as they traveled along Montauk Highway at 3:15 p.m. Miller reportedly became physically aggressive, punching her several times on the right shoulder and grabbing the steering wheel, rocking it back and forth, and sending the vehicle off the road. The driver pulled the car over, telling Miller that she nearly killed them. She then drove off, but Miller repeated her actions a second time. According to the report, when she tried to call 911, Miller tried to wrestle the phone from her hands. Miller was arrested, held overnight, and arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court in the morning. Justice Catherine A. Cahill released her on $250 bail.

DWI-Related

• William A. Verdugo, 34, of Woodside, NY, was arrested on a DWI charge on Sept 9. Police said he was swerving in a 1998 Honda Three Mile Harbor Road, near Gardiner's Lane, in Springs at about 12:50 p.m. He was held until the morning, when Justice Cahill released him on $750 bail after arraignment.

• Jack J. Messina, 43, of Miller Place, was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license and not using a court-mandated Interlock ignition device on a 2001 Lincoln while driving in East Hampton on Sept. 7. Police said Messina failed to stop at a stop sign on Old Northwest Road, near Cedar Street, at about 10 p.m. According to police, a check of his record showed his privilege to operator a motor vehicle was revoked on Oct. 26, 2010 after a conviction on a charge of driving while ability impaired by drugs and alcohol. Though the car did not belong to him, he was required to have a device that reads the amount of alcohol on his breath before the ignition will start, police said. Messina was charged with second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and using a vehicle without an Interlock device, both misdemeanors. He was released on $100 station house bail.


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