Officer: No plan regarding Kabot arrest

Testifying Tuesday at the drunken driving trial of Linda Kabot, a Westhampton Beach police officer involved in the then-Southampton town supervisor's 2009 arrest denied telling a sergeant, "Look who we got."

On the second day of Kabot's trial in Riverhead Town Court, Officer Steven McManus acknowledged showing Kabot's driver's license to the sergeant, who had driven by the scene, soon after Kabot was stopped on Main Street in Westhampton Beach on Sept. 6, 2009. But he denied telling the sergeant, "We got her," or "Look who we got."

Kabot's attorney William Keahon of Hauppauge has said the alleged statement indicated that police and Kabot's political opponents had conspired to set up Kabot to be arrested. Police have denied it. Keahon has pointed to phone calls made shortly after the arrest between police officers and police union officials discussing the stop.

"I don't know if I said anything, sir," McManus said in response to a question from Keahon. "Why would I say, 'We got her, we got her?' "

Two months after her arrest, Kabot, a Republican, lost her re-election bid to Democrat Anna Throne-Holst, who has said allegations of a conspiracy to arrest Kabot were "ridiculous."

Prosecutors have said Kabot, 43, of Quogue, was arrested shortly after midnight on Sept. 7, 2009, after she refused three times to take a breath test to determine whether she had been drinking.

For the second straight day, jurors were shown a police video of Kabot's arrest. But this time, they heard Keahon question whether Kabot exhibited signs of being inebriated.

When Kabot is seen taking a field sobriety test, Keahon asked McManus, "Has she done anything wrong at this point?"

McManus said she had not.

Earlier, he had testified that Kabot had driven at an "imprudent speed" and "drifted" over the double yellow line on Sunset Avenue before police pulled her over on Main Street. But he acknowledged she was not charged with speeding or violating traffic laws.

The video shows Kabot arguing with police about her arrest. She can clearly be heard refusing to take the breath test.

McManus testified that he and another officer stopped Kabot after she drove around pedestrians who were crossing Main Street in Westhampton Beach.

"I was concerned for the safety of those people," he said.

Keahon asked McManus whether Kabot's Toyota Camry had struck cars parked on the side of the road.

"No, sir, she did not," McManus said.