An accused drunk driver caused at least $100,000 in damages after crashing through an upscale Montauk art show on Long Island early Sunday morning, according to reports.
Nicoly Ribeiro De Souza, 23, was hit with drunken driving charges and six counts of reckless mischief after police said the allegedly tipsy driver plowed a 2020 Nissan Rogue into the exhibits around 3 a.m., Newsday reported.
Sag Harbor photographer Jim Levison told the outlet that it “looked like a tornado came through.”
Photos from the scene show six white display tents smashed and some of the artwork, including paintings, strewn about at the event, which is sponsored by Montauk Artists Association and features the work of local and regional artists.
“The people that come to these shows, this is how they make their living,” John Papaleo, who sits on the association’s executive board, told Newsday. “This is their livelihood.”
One of the damaged tents displayed the work of about 30 artists, and one participating artist lost works that she had been working on for the past eight months, Levison said.
The art show opened Friday, and about 50 volunteers chipped in to clean up the wreckage so the show could go on on schedule on Sunday.
No one involved in the show was hurt in the early morning mishap.
De Souza, who was awaiting arraignment on Sunday, was taken to Southampton Hospital with minor injuries, local outlet Greater Long Island said.
A passenger in the Nissan refused medical attention at the scene.
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