A Westhampton woman is in the hospital and several state and town police vehicles are damaged following a car chase Oct. 24 along Sunrise Highway that ended in North Mall’s parking lot, according to Southampton Town Police.
Responding to a call on Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays of a middle-aged woman appearing disoriented, Southampton Town Police officers observed 51-year-old Kirsten Delemarre, of Westhampton, driving a Toyota sedan in “an erratic manner” and attempted to pull her over.
Instead, Delemarre drove erratically onto Sunrise Highway headed eastbound, crossing the median between Exits 66 to 63 several times and driving on the wrong side of the highway into oncoming traffic, said police.
New York State Police officers joined in Delemarre’s pursuit as she continued to cross medians and rammed into a marked state police cruiser—damaging the car and forcing police and civilian vehicles off the roadway. This created an “extremely dangerous situation,” according to police.
Police attempted on several occasions to slow down Delemarre by setting out spike-strips to deflate her tires, but she was able to elude the strips by continuing her recklessness and making “dangerous U-turns” as she exited the highway at CR-31 and headed south.
Delemarre ultimately turned into the North Mall parking lot and exited at a high speed, striking two Southampton Town Police units and a civilian vehicle before finally coming to a stop, said police.
Police apprehended and arrested Delemarre, who was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead for evaluation and transferred to Stony Brook Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. One Southampton Town police officer suffered a laceration to his hand during the arrest, with the investigation ongoing.
The Peconic Bay Medical Center Emergency Room staff have advised police that Delemarre is Bi-Polar and had not taken her psychiatric medications.
Delemarre has been charged with once count of 3rd Degree Unlawful Fleeing A Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle, three counts of 1st Degree Reckless Endangerment, two counts of 2nd Degree Criminal Mischief and one count of 3rd Degree Criminal Mischief.
Following her release from Stony Brook, Delemarre will be transported by Southampton Town Police to the Southampton Town Justice Court for processing and/or arraignment, said police.
