Sag Harbor cop who didn’t recognize Justin Timberlake during DWI arrest is unmasked as rookie Michael Arkinson… and he’s been infuriating the Hamptons elite for months

The Gen Z officer who failed to recognize Justin Timberlake when he pulled him over for alleged drunken driving in Sag Harbor is a rookie officer who has already made a name for himself in the posh Hamptons town, despite only joining the force three months ago.

Officer Michael Arkinson, who turns 24 this month, pulled over Timberlake Monday night after allegedly seeing him blow a stop sign and swerve into the right lane.

In his reports, he said Timberlake was unsteady on his feet and refused a breath test.

Hilariously, he’s so young that he didn’t seem to know who Timberlake was.

Arkinson wasn’t even born when Timberlake joined the boy band N’Sync in 1995.

In 2001, Timberlake was a rising star thanks to the group’s signature hit, ‘Bye Bye Bye’; Arkinson, the son of an electrician and schoolteacher, was just one.

But in the three short months he’s been on the force, he’s already become known for his attempts to transfer, earning him the nickname “the Sag Harbor Nazi” and a “little redhead dips**t” among the Hamptons . wealthy residents.

Spencer, a writer from Shelter Island, is a driver who claims he had an unpleasant encounter with Arkinson. He recently tried to find a parking spot before meeting a friend for dinner Sag Harbor when he made a quick U-turn.

Arkinson struck when he saw him making the turn.

“I was surprised he pulled me over,” he said.

‘It was the off-season and there was no one around. It was an ad**khead move. I felt like he was pushing me aside just to do it.”

Luckily, he said he got a “warning.”

But the second time, Arkinson wasn’t so nice.

Spencer was driving near Sag Harbor School when Arkinson pulled him over for talking on his cell phone.

“I explained to him that I was on speaker and just holding my phone, but he told me I should have used Bluetooth,” he said.

He added, “I thought he was going to give me a break, and I was going less than 25 miles per hour to get to the Y in East Hampton.”

Instead, Arkinson hit him with a $145 ticket that he didn’t pay.

‘I only had less than 30 minutes to swim. It really interrupted my training and lunch plans,” he said.

“I think Justin Timberlake was a victim of over-aggressive Sag Harbor police.”

Another Sag Harbor resident remembers when Atkinson was a traffic control officer and a “brownie,” or traffic control officer, before rising through the ranks of the department.

The local resident said that although he never received a ticket from Atkinson, everyone knew where police would park on Main Street: outside the windmill and Murf’s Backstreet Tavern, and at the local school.

And he wasn’t surprised that 24-year-old Atkinson had no idea who Timberlake was: “If that’s not your taste in music, how would you know?”

He added that Arkinson’s confrontation with the singer will undoubtedly be released: “If anything comes out, it will all be on the bodycam.”

The 6-foot-2 Arkinson played lacrosse at South Hampton High School before earning a spot on the Roger Williams University team.

He started as a part-time traffic controller while still in high school, going back to 2017 and making less than $15 an hour.

An annual average salary for Sag Harbor police officers is approximately $70,000.

He graduated from the police academy in 2022 and was promoted to full-time Sag Harbor officer in March 2024.

Arkinson, who lives in South Hampton, about 25 minutes from the small town of Sag Harbor, did not respond to DailyMail.com’s several requests for comment.

Arkinson’s parents also declined to comment on their son’s major arrest.

However, they did call the police, who warned the media to stay away from their home.

When the megastar was arrested, Arkinson noted it in the complaint report Timberlake performed “poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests.”

The new officer noticed that the star smelled of alcohol, was unsteady on his feet and spoke slowly as he tried to get his license plate number.

Timberlake said he “only had one martini” and that he “followed his friends home.”

He also refused to take a breath test. Arkinson read an alcohol impairment report to Timberlake at 12:52 p.m., who responded, “No, I don’t do a chemical test,” which Arkinson noted in the complaint.

When offered again at 1:07 a.m., Timberlake again responded, “I decline.”

A third time at 1:22 a.m., Timberlake repeated, “I refuse.”

He was then arrested and transported to Sag Harbor Police Headquarters by another Sag Harbor officer, Otis Cantrell, and on Tuesday he pleaded not guilty in Sag Harbor Village Court.

His lawyer, Eddie Burke, saved him. On Wednesday, his lawyer told DailyMail.com that he had left the Hamptons to prepare for his concert in Chicago on Friday evening.

Timberlake’s case returns to court on July 26, but the star does not have to attend.