Found Asleep in Mercedes, Indigent Woman Sent to Jail

An apparently homeless woman charged with two felonies, grand larceny and possession of stolen property, and two misdemeanors, false impersonation and unauthorized use of a vehicle, was sent to jail last Thursday after being accused of stealing an Oklahoma oilman’s Mercedes Benz from in front of his Ocean Avenue, East Hampton, property.

Most recently of the Bronx, the suspect was identified by police as Beverly Deperstein, 41. However, during arraignment on Friday morning, her Legal Aid Society attorney, Brian Francese, told the court her family name is DeLaverstine. The question of her identity was even more complicated because when initially questioned by police, she allegedly produced a driver’s license of a New York woman, Rosanna Segara.

The woman, whom police said is originally from Trinidad, was quoted telling them that she had come to East Hampton about two weeks earlier and been going door to door to “ask people if they wanted someone to clean their house or watch their kids.” On June 28, she reportedly said, she “was stopped by a policeman, who told me somebody had complained about me ringing their doorbell. He told me I can’t do that.”

She told police she was on Ocean Avenue when she saw a 2011 Mercedes Benz station wagon parked on the side of the road. The car belongs to Stephen J. Heyman, managing partner of Nadel and Gussman, an oil and gas drilling company based in Midland, Tex. He was not there at the time, police said.

“I opened the car door, just to peep inside,” she told police, explaining that, seeing the keys, she headed away from Ocean Avenue. She went on to explain that she was tired, the sun was setting, and she wanted to go to sleep, police said. “I was looking for a quiet, shady place, and I parked where you guys found me.”

The car was reported stolen the next day.

Police were able to find the car via its global positioning system, and they found her sleeping in it last Thursday morning behind a vacant building at 350 Pantigo Road, opposite Moby’s.

During her arraignment Friday morning, the question of bail was the main point of discussion between Town Justice Steven Tekulsky and Mr. Francese, who said his client was indigent and could not afford any bail. “I would ask the court for mercy and to release her on her own recognizance,” Mr. Francese said. “I will try to find a way to contact her.”

“I certainly understand if she is indigent, but besides the fact that she has, as a matter of law, no roots in the community and we have no way of getting in touch with her, that in and of itself is troubling to the court,” Justice Tekulsky responded. He went on to say “she has a rather extensive criminal history, including what appears to be at least one felony conviction, and she has at least two bench warrants, and the crimes that she has been involved with all concern larceny or burglary.” 

The district attorney’s office had asked bail to be set at $25,000; Mr. Tekulsky set it at $10,000, and heard her say she would not be able to post it. If no indictment was obtained by the end of yesterday, however, she was to have been released.

“So many things have happened,” the defendant said, softly, as she was being led away.