EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. — Justin Timberlake is not the first celebrity to get arrested in the Hamptons. The beach communities on the eastern end of New York's Long Island are popular with the rich and famous, and others have gotten into trouble there, much of it vehicular. Here are a few examples:
Billy Joel
Singer Billy Joel and Long Island commercial fishermen from the East Hampton Baymen's Association were charged with catching striped bass illegally during a July 1992 protest against fishing regulations. The charges were later dismissed. The plight of fishermen whose livelihood is threatened by regulations inspired Joel's song ''The Downeaster ‘Alexa.'''
Then in January 2003 Joel swerved off the road and crashed his Mercedes into a tree in Sag Harbor. Joel was hospitalized; he was not arrested.
Martha Stewart
A landscaper working for real estate mogul Harry Macklowe accused TV personality and homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart of intentionally backing her car into him in May 1997 amid a feud between Macklowe and Stewart, East Hampton neighbors. The Suffolk Count district attorney's office investigated but decided not to bring charges against Stewart. ''Not every event which adversely affects a person's life deserves to be litigated in criminal court," then-District Attorney James Catterson said.
''P.R. Princess'' Lizzie Grubman
Lizzie Grubman, a publicist to the stars whose clients included Britney Spears and Jay-Z, was asked by a security guard in Southampton to move her Mercedes out of a fire lane on July 7, 2001. Grubman responded by backing the vehicle into a crowd, injuring 16 people. Grubman was charged with crimes including second-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless endangerment. She faced a prison sentence of up to eight years but served only 38 days in jail and five years probation after reaching a plea deal.
