Two people were arrested for driving while their ability was impaired on Saturday evening after authorities stepped up patrols in response to the large number of high school graduations held over the weekend.Colleen Quinlan, 45, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, was arrested by members of the East End DWI Task Force at 10:33 p.m. and charged with aggravated DWI, a felony, after she nearly hit a patrol car while attempting to turn left from Ponquogue Avenue onto Bay Avenue East in Hampton Bays.Ms. Quinlan was given the elevated DWI charge because she had her 11-year-old son in the car with her at the time, authorities said. She was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and failure to yield the right of way while turning, a violation.Her son was taken to stay with a local family member and police contacted Child Protective Services, according to police.Ms. Quinlan was held overnight at police headquarters in Hampton Bays and arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court the following morning.Seth Wassenaar, 18, of Riverhead was arrested at 10:58 p.m. that same night on Townsend Road in Flanders and charged with driving while his ability was impaired by drugs, a misdemeanor. He was also ticketed for driving without his headlights, failure to maintain his lane and violating a restriction on his license, all violations.Mr. Wassenaar was originally stopped for driving with his headlights turned off when officers determined that he was under the influence of marijuana, they said. He was held overnight at police headquarters and arraigned the following morning in Town Justice Court.In total, 44 drivers were stopped by members of the East End DWI Task Force, which includes police officers from Southampton and East Hampton towns, East Hampton Village and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities also noted that there were no reported accidents during the operation, which started Saturday evening and ran through Sunday morning.
Kyle Campbell on Jun 28, 2015