Michael Arkinson, the Sag Harbor Police Department cop who arrested Justin Timberlake on suspicion of DWI, has been awarded officer of the year.
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Police Officer Who Arrested Justin Timberlake for DWI Named Sag Harbor Officer of the Year
The Grammy winner was arrested last summer.
By
Rania Aniftos
03/5/2025
Justin Timberlake appears in court in the Hamptons for drunk driving hearing in Long Island, NY, United States on September 13, 2024.Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
Michael Arkinson, the Sag Harbor Police Department officer who arrested Justin Timberlake on suspicion of driving while intoxicated last summer, has been awarded for his work.
The cop was named officer of the year by Chief Rob Drake in a recent ceremony, per
TMZ, for making “an immediate impact within the department and the community.”
Timberlake’s DWI case began June 17, 2024 after police reported witnessing him “failing to stop at a duly posted stop sign and failing to maintain his lane of travel” while operating in Sag Harbor. Arkinson noted in a court filing that “the defendant was operating said vehicle in an intoxicated condition in that his eyes were
bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests.”
The Grammy winner had also reportedly told Arkinson during the arrest, “I had one martini and I followed my friends home.” Timberlake’s lawyer also argued that his client wasn’t drunk at all during the arrest.
In September, Timberlake moved forward with a plea deal after previously pleading
not guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. After
pleading guilty in New York’s Sag Harbor Village Court, according to the
Associated Press, Timberlake was sentenced to a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge as well as 25 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choosing.