The case against Maura Davis Gropper, the 67-year-old East Hampton woman who was accused in May of driving her car into two teenage traffic control officers in Sag Harbor, has been resolved. On Friday, following negotiations, she pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree harassment, a violation, and was ordered to pay a fine.
According to the arrest report, Ms. Davis Gropper had stopped her car on Main Street, blocking traffic, on the afternoon of May 17, when the T.C.O.s approached and instructed her to move. She reportedly refused, stating that she was waiting for a parking space, and then drove toward the officers, into the space, ignoring their repeated orders to stop. Her car's front bumper allegedly struck one of them in the knee and the other on the left leg before they jumped out of the way as she finished parking.
Ms. Davis Gropper then got out of the car, grabbed one of the T.C.O.s by his collar, and attempted to shove a gum wrapper down his shirt.
Both officers were treated by E.M.S. at the scene and refused transport to the hospital, and Ms. Gropper was arrested. She was charged initially with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, and later charged with two more misdemeanors: leaving the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment.
She was arraigned on June 6 in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court before Justice Carl Irace, who expressed dissatisfaction with the charges, stating that they "fail to provide an adequate nature of the case," and adding that the facts as presented appeared to support charges of assault, a felony. Calling the woman "a risk" based on her reaction to a "mundane" parking dispute, he ordered pre-trial supervised release, and also ordered her to enroll in an anger-management program, which she completed over the summer.
When the prosecutor announced the plea bargain on Friday — a guilty plea to the harassment violation — Justice Irace paused. Daniel Ginty of the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, who was representing Ms. Davis Gropper, suggested that both parties approach the bench, and after a prolonged discussion the justice announced that he would hear further deliberation later, after the morning's other cases had been resolved.
When she was called to the bench again, Ms. Gropper Davis formally entered her plea and affirmed that she had grabbed the collar of a T.C.O. performing his official duty and attempted to shove a gum wrapper down his shirt.
Justice Irace asked whether she or her attorney had anything to add. "As a parent, she is very sorry for what happened, very embarrassed about what happened," Mr. Ginty said. The court then asked the defendant if she had anything to say. "No," she replied.
"Nothing?"
"I apologize to the court, and I apologize to the young man," she said. "It was . . . uncalled for. And I do apologize."
Justice Irace then asked her whether she comes to Sag Harbor often, and understands the parking situation in the village and the job the T.C.O.s are tasked with.
"I just wanted to park in that spot. I was being waved away, and I didn't understand," she answered.
"What happened that day?" the justice pressed. "How did this day get so out of control?"
Mr. Ginty interjected that the court had already acknowledged the difficult parking situation in the village, and Ms. Davis Gropper stated that she had never done "anything like this" before, and has a 30-year-old son herself.
"I would never hurt a child," she said. "I wouldn't hurt a fly." The prosecution then stepped in to say that there was no motive alleged in the charge against her, and that her statement was sufficient.
That would be for the court to determine, Justice Irace responded. "So thanks for chiming in, but don't do it again."
He then stated that the defendant "has given this enough thought" and that "this is a just result." He accepted the plea and imposed a fine, which Ms. Davis Gropper requested 60 days to pay.
In a similar case heard in the same court just two weeks before, Yosef Follman of Brooklyn, 33, was also accused of an altercation with a village T.C.O. In late August, according to the police record, he "aggressively veered toward" an officer issuing him a summons after she directed him to re-park his car. Though no physical contact was alleged, he was charged with second-degree attempted assault, which is classified as a violent felony, and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor. That case is ongoing; Mr. Follman will return to court in the near future.
