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Crime & Safety

Cops: Drunk Driver Arrested After 100MPH Chase

Kyle B. Ballou charged with DWI, reckless driving and unlawfully fleeing police.

Southampton Village police nabbed a drunk driver early Saturday after he fled from East Hampton Town police at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, according to authorities.

East Hampton Town police said that just after midnight on Nov. 24, an officer saw Kyle B. Ballou, 23, of East Hampton, driving extremely erratically and recklessly while heading westbound on Montauk Highway in the vicinity of Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. The arrest report states the driver was passing cars on the left unsafely, driving in and out of the oncoming traffic lane.

Police followed the 2011 BMW through East Hampton Village, and the driver continued to pass through several stop signs and red lights, at times failing to maintain his lane of travel and driving over yellow lines, the report states.

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Ballou — whose license had been suspended on Nov. 17 for failing to pay a drivers’ responsibility assessment — was reached over the phone and asked to surrender, though he refused, police said.

After alerting surrounding police departments, Southampton Village police located him, though officers were led on another high speed chase.

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"When the officer activated his emergency lights, the vehicle sped off leading police on a brief pursuit where the operator drove down a one-way street exceeding the posted speed limit," Southampton Village police said.

After stopping his vehicle, he attempted to flee on foot, according to police. He was subsequently arrested and his vehicle was impounded.

He was charged with DWI by Southampton Village police at 1:59 a.m. East Hampton Town police charged him with reckless driving, fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

At arraignment, he was released after posting $1,000 bail, Southampton Village police said.

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