Nine arrested during stepped-up enforcement over Labor Day Weekend: Riverhead Police

Nine people were arrested by Riverhead Police over the holiday weekend during a statewide “Labor Day Weekend Stop DWI Enforcement” crackdown on impaired and reckless driving announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday.

The Riverhead Police enforcement included increased patrols and sobriety checkpoints held at three different times and locations from Friday evening through 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a police press release issued early this morning.  The checkpoints resulted in the arrests of four people, police said. Patrol enforcement resulted in the arrests of four people because of observed vehicle and traffic violation(s) and one person who crashed his vehicle into another motorist, police said. 

Elfego Enriquez Bolvito, 25,  of Riverhead, was charged with Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, after a crash on Saturday, police said. Police did not disclose the time or location of the crash, or say whether it resulted in any injuries. 

Police said arrests at sobriety checkpoints this weekend, were as follows:

• Joseph Venturo, 61, of Calverton, was arrested at a checkpoint on Sound Avenue and West Lane Friday and charged with Driving While Intoxicated. Venturo refused a breathalyzer test, according to the report. Venturo, who has a prior DWI conviction, had his vehicle pursuant to the Suffolk County Seizure Law, police said.

• George M. Conard, 60, of Garden City was arrested at a checkpoint on Sound Avenue and West Lane Friday on a  charge of Driving While Ability Impaired. 

• Bryan Carnizales Lopez,  28, of Riverhead, was arrested at a checkpoint on East Main Street, west of Elston Street Friday on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated. 

• Brittany L. Smith, 35, of Mastic Beach, was arrested at a checkpoint on Peconic Avenue near Heidi Behr Way Saturday on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated.  

Police said the following individuals were arrested during increased patrol enforcement this weekend: 

• Ryan G. Goldberg, 27, of Franklin Square, on Sunday, on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated;

• Ivan Sariles Hernandez, 36, of Calverton, on Monday, on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated.  Sariles Hernandez refused a breathalyzer test, police said.    

• Hugo Ardon Hernandez, 22, of Greenport, on Monday, on a charge of  Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, a felony.  Ardon Hernandez, who has a prior DWI conviction, had his vehicle pursuant to the Suffolk County Seizure Law, police said.

• Howard E. Gassert,  45, of Riverhead, on Monday, on a charge of Driving While Intoxicated.      

Arrest times were not provided. 

Police said the individuals arrested were processed at Riverhead Police Headquarters and held until morning arraignment the following day.

“The Riverhead Police Department will continue their DWI enforcement throughout the year with increased enforcement expected during the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas,” police said in the press release.

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.