By Alex Petroski
A Commack woman thought she could get out of a traffic ticket by calling, of all people, the police.
Suffolk County Police have arrested a woman who called 911 to falsely report seeing two men with guns in an effort to avoid receiving traffic summonses in Commack, according to police. This is the second time in a week that a person made a 911 call to report a false emergency, police said.
A 2nd Precinct police officer pulled over Marie Toussaint Oct. 23 at about 11:15 a.m. on Jericho Turnpike, near Larkfield Road, in Commack after he observed her driving a 2011 Toyota Highlander that did not have valid registration plates. When the officer returned to his vehicle to write Toussaint summonses, she called 911 and falsely reported two men with guns running down the street in the vicinity of the traffic stop. The fraudulent call elicited a large police response from 2nd and 4th Precincts officers. The officer that stopped Toussaint also responded to the call, releasing her without writing any summonses. After a thorough search of the area, the call was determined to be unfounded. Further investigation revealed that Toussaint made the call from her vehicle after being stopped by the 2nd Precinct police officer.
Toussaint, 40, of Commack, surrendered at the 2nd Precinct Oct. 31 at about 5 p.m. Second Precinct Crime Section officers arrested Toussaint and she was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident, and second-degree obstructing governmental administration. She will also receive four summonses for the original traffic infractions. She was released on bail and will be arraigned at First District Court Jan. 11, 2018.