Ludwick Indicted on Vehicular Homicide Charge in August Crash
Sean P. Ludwick, who is accused of being drunk when he crashed his Porsche in Noyac on Aug. 30, killing his passenger, Paul Hansen, was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on 13 criminal charges, including vehicular homicide, manslaughter, and drunken driving in a fatal accident.
Mr. Ludwick will be arraigned on Jan. 6 in Central Islip.
Five of the charges he faces are felonies, and the three most serious of these could each draw a 25-year sentence in state prison. Police say Mr. Ludwick, 43, left his passenger's body on the side of the road just yards from Mr. Hansen's house on Rolling Hills Court East.
The top charge is aggravated vehicular homicide in a fatal accident where the driver had a blood alcohol level of over .18 percent. This charge may well have been the one that caused a delay in presenting the case to a grand jury: Mr. Ludwick's blood was drawn several hours after the crash, meaning District Attorney Thomas Spota's office would have to mathematically back the number they received to what the actual alcohol level in Mr. Ludwick's blood was at the time of the crash to the satisfaction of the grand jury.
There are also two charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, according to court records, because within the past 10 years Mr. Ludwick had pleaded guilty to driving with ability impaired by alcohol. Though the prior charge was a reduction from misdemeanor drunken driving, which he was originally accused of, its presence in his history triggered the elevated charge.
He is also charged with manslaughter for allegedly recklessly causing Mr. Hansen's death, and vehicular homicide for being drunk at the aggravated level when the accident happened.
Among the other eight charges are several misdemeanors, including drunken driving and reckless driving.
Mr. Ludwick, a New York real estate developer, is currently free after posting $1 million bond two days after his arrest. The family of Mr. Hansen, who was 53 and had two young sons, filed a civil suit against Mr. Ludwick in October.