Wanted in Ski Resort Fraud

An East Hampton Town police investigation of a “suspicious person” knocking on doors of residences on Greentree Court in Amagansett, off La Foret Lane, led late Friday night to the arrest of Kai Jing Liu, 32.

Ms. Liu is wanted in Colorado on a felony charge of fraud, having allegedly run up a $4,600 bill at a Snowmass Village resort in early February. When it came time to pay, according to Snowmass police, Ms. Liu presented the Crestwood Condominiums with a series of bad credit cards, as reported by The Aspen Times.

As they questioned Ms. Liu near midnight Saturday, police here learned about the Colorado warrant and informed the woman she was under arrest. She reportedly refused to put her bags down to be handcuffed, and kicked an officer repeatedly as he tried to detain her. She was charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and harassment, a violation.

Taken to police headquarters, she refused again and again to be fingerprinted, demanding to talk to a lawyer and a judge. The standoff between Ms. Liu and police continued into Saturday afternoon. It was explained to her that if she allowed herself to be fingerprinted, she would be arraigned on Sunday morning, when she would have both a judge and a lawyer to talk to. She finally agreed.

Her conversation that morning with East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana did not go so well. With Carl Irace, her “weekend lawyer” under a county program for defendants who do not have their own attorney, standing by her side, she repeatedly interrupted the court. Justice Rana tried to determine where she was from. Ms. Liu gave a Flushing address, as well as an address in Woodbury, N.Y. She said she was a designer, in town for the Hampton Classic Horse Show.

Given the outstanding warrant, Justice Rana set bail at $20,500. “There is no way I can make that bail right now,” Ms. Liu said. She began talking about her interchanges with police during her arrest, though Justice Rana told her several times to address the court through Mr. Irace. “I was defending myself as a woman,” Ms. Liu said of her refusal to hand over her handbag. “I have an attorney here to represent you, to protect you and your rights,” Justice Rana interjected. “I was trying to defend myself,” Ms. Liu repeated.

She remained in county jail as of yesterday morning, and is due back in court today.