Police Officer Who Arrested Justin Timberlake for DWI Named Sag Harbor Officer of the Year

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 disputed 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.