A 67-year-old East Hampton woman accused of driving her car into two teenage traffic control officers in Sag Harbor Village on May 17 pleaded not guilty to four charges — endangering the welfare of a child, harassment in the second degree, leaving the scene of an accident, and reckless endangerment — when she was arraigned Friday in front of Village Justice Carl Irace.
According to the arrest report, Maura Davis Gropper had stopped her car on Main Street while waiting for a parking space on May 17. When two traffic control officers asked her to keep moving, she refused, the report said. When the spot opened up, she allegedly drove her car into them as she entered it. She then walked up to one asking “ ‘where the nearest garbage is’ while waving a gum wrapper in his face,” and then grabbed the collar of the other and attempted to “shove” the wrapper down his shirt, according to police.
An ambulance was summoned, but the T.C.O.s, who had been attempting to give Ms. Davis Gropper a summons, did not require transport to the hospital.
“You used your car to strike a 17-year-old child,” Justice Irace said in court on Friday as he described the charges. Initially, there were only two: endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree, a violation. The other two charges, both misdemeanors, were added subsequent to the May 17 arrest.
After the charges were read, it was up to the court to decide the best way to get Ms. Davis Gropper to return for her next appearance. The Suffolk County prosecutor in the case, Bradford Magill, said he was not requesting monetary bail, and recommended “supervised release.”
When Justice Irace asked David McMaster, Ms. Davis Gropper’s court-appointed attorney for the proceeding, if he had a proposal for the least restrictive means to assure the defendant would return to court, Mr. McMaster said, “I don’t think supervised release is necessary,” pointing out that his client had appeared for the arraignment without incident.
But Justice Irace disagreed. “The charges fail to provide an adequate nature of the case against you,” he said to her. As he considered stricter measures, the message he was sending was clear: Don’t mess with the Sag Harbor T.C.O.s.
“It is self-evident that stuffing garbage down someone’s shirt, unless it’s a joke, is unwelcome,” he said. “There appear to be facts to support assault charges,” which could be a felony, he added. While traffic control officers aren’t considered at the same level as police officers or firefighters, for context Justice Irace explained that even spitting on one of those officers could be a felony.
The prosecutor said that there was an ongoing investigation. A video of the incident could have been captured on cameras installed at a nearby bank, which could result in additional charges, he said.
“I would object to the consideration of charges that haven’t been filed yet,” Mr. McMaster said.
“You betrayed your humanity by walking away from the scene,” Justice Irace said to Ms. Davis Gropper. “The small amount I know about how you were alleged to have acted, about this mundane fact of life — a dispute over a parking space — tells me you are a risk. I’m a part-time village employee, just like those T.C.O.s, and I’m afraid you may not comply with my orders, just as you didn’t comply with theirs. From where I sit, you’re the type of person to not comply. I cannot feel confident that you’re going to comply with the court once you leave.”
“We would consent to supervised release in light of the court’s comments,” Mr. McMaster said.
“I appreciate that. That takes some of the weight off the decision,” Justice Irace answered. He ordered pretrial supervised release and that Ms. Davis Gropper enroll in an anger-management program before her next court appearance, scheduled for Friday, June 20. Though her attorney objected to the latter, Justice Irace was unmoved. “This sounds like road rage to me. . . . I’m imposing this condition to ensure that the lawful directives of this court are complied with.”
Ms. Davis Gropper said she could not hire an attorney. She was to be screened to see if she meets the criteria to receive Legal Aid counsel.
