SAG HARBOR, N.Y. — Justin Timberlake claimed he had just “one martini” before he was pulled over, failed field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving early Tuesday in the affluent Hamptons area of Long Island, police said.
The pop superstar — identified as a 43-year-old Franklin, Tennessee, resident in the criminal complaint — was arraigned and released without having to post bail about nine hours after his arrest, police said.
Timberlake was behind the wheel of a gray BMW with Florida plates when he was stopped at 12:17 a.m., initially for driving through a stop sign and failing to stay on the right side of the road, according to a criminal complaint.
But once police spoke to Timberlake, they said it was clear the motorist was not in shape to drive, according to the complaint written by Sag Harbor Village police officer Michael Arkinson.
It was “ascertained 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,” Arkinson wrote.
The officer quoted Timberlake as saying: “I had one martini and I followed my friends home.”
He also declined to be tested for impairment, allegedly telling police, “No, I’m not doing a chemical test.”
Timberlake had dined at The American Hotel in the Hamptons community of Sag Harbor “and then headed to a friend’s house when he was pulled over by police,” a source close to the musician said.
Timberlake is set to play in Chicago on Friday and Saturday before coming back to play at Madison Square Garden in New York City next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
His “The Forget Tomorrow World Tour” had been in Miami on Saturday and Tampa on Friday.
Pei-Sze Cheng and Adam Reiss reported from Sag Harbor, New York, and David K. Li and Brittany Kubicko reported from New York City.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Daniel Arkin, Matthew Mulligan and Chloe Melas contributed.
