Arrest made in hit-and-run death of Realtor in Netflix reality series
June 21 (UPI) -- Police on Long Island have arrested a suspect in the fatal hit-and-run crash of Sara Burack, a luxury real estate agent featured on Netflix's Million Dollar Beach House. She was 40.
Friday, one day after the crash, Amanda Kempton, 32, of Virginia, was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in which a fatality occurred in Hampton Bays.
On Saturday, the marine biologist's family in Manorville put up collateral in lieu of $100,000 bail during a first appearance in Southampton Town Justice Court.
Kempton, who had planned to return to Virginia for a wedding Saturday, faces up to seven years in prison in the felony case.
Burack was discovered lying unconscious on the side of Montauk Highway, near Villa Paul Restaurant, at around 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Southampton Town police told the New York Daily News.
Burack was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she died that afternoon, her friend and fellow realtor Paulette Corsair said.
Corsair said Burack endured severe injuries to her head, brain and liver, as well as a broken leg.
"This animal of a being, left her in the gutter to die," Corsair posted on Facebook. "She was not identified for hours. Her beloved family was called & I was next. We were all bedside w sara til the end."
Although Kempton was at a tavern before the incident, her lawyer told the court that alcohol is not a factor in the case.
Kempton did not see the victim in the fog, Keahon said, and thought she had hit a traffic cone.
She left the scene and went to a friend's home, and found Burack's large, pink, wheeled suitcase underneath her vehicle, Keahon said.
Authorities, using a license plate reader, tracked Kempton's movements and found her vehicle with a damaged front end at her family's home, prosecutors said.
Burack, who lived in Southampton, was a renowned broker and former agent with Nest Seekers International, a luxury firm known for handling properties in Manhattan and the Hamptons. She listed property through Palm Beach Lux Group in Florida.
Burack appeared on Million Dollar Beach House in 2020 with Peggy Zabakolas and J.B. Andreassi.
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