Real Estate Mogul Held on $500,000 Bail

Sean P. Ludwick, the New York City real estate mogul charged with drunken driving following an early Sunday morning accident in Noyac that killed his passenger, is headed for jail, at least for the time being.

Southampton Town Justice Deborah Kooperstein arraigned Mr. Ludwick at the courthouse in Hampton Bays on Monday morning, setting bail at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond, the amount recommended by the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

Despite objections by Daniel J. Ollen, a Wall Street criminal defense attorney representing Mr. Ludwick, Justice Kooperstein said she was concerned that the defendant, who likely faces more significant charges, would not return to court.

Paul Hansen, 53, was killed when he was thrown from Sean P. Ludwig's Porsche, after it crashed on the same block Mr. Hansen lived on with his two young children.

Mary Anne Miller

Mr. Ludwick was driving a 2013 Porsche convertible on Rolling Hills Court East when he hit a curb and crashed into a utility pole, Maggie Bopp, an assistant district attorney, told the court. Paul Hansen, a 53-year-old who lived on that block, was ejected from the Porsche and killed.Mr. Ludwick drove away, Ms. Bopp said, leaving Mr. Hansen lying in the road. 

"Those behaviors indicate a risk," Justice Kooperstein said, of not returning to court.

Ms. Bopp said Mr. Ludwick refused to take a blood alcohol test. At Southampton Hospital, police obtained a warrant to have his blood drawn and tested. The results are expected back from the Suffolk County Crime Lab later on Monday.

There was concern as well about Mr. Ludwick's criminal history, which includes driving while ability impaired, a violation, in 2009, and a record of failing to appear in court, Ms. Bopp said. He did not show up for a court appearance last year in connection with a harassment charge elsewhere, because, Mr. Ollen told Justice Kooperstein, he was out of the country on business.

The lawyer said he made prosecutors aware of the situation, and that the "assistant district attorney was actually okay with it." He said Mr. Ludwick was never charged with failure to appear, nor was there any bail-jumping, adding that he voluntarily appeared in court when he returned from abroad.

In objecting to the high bail, Mr. Ollen asked the court not to consider the possibility of upgraded charges, but rather look at his client's ties to New York. "A major real estate developer in the United States and across the world, quite frankly," Mr. Ollen said.

Mr. Ludwick is the principal in BlackHouse Development, a Manhattan real estate firm. Born and raised in Huntington, he splits his time between a townhouse on Sutton Place and a house on Brick Kiln Road in Bridgehampton. His wife, Pamela, was in the courtroom Monday morning, visibly upset. Mr. Ludwick has two sons, 13 and 11, one of whom attended school in Bridgehampton last year, Mr. Ollen told the court.

"He has zero reason to flee," the lawyer said. Even so, he assured Justice Kooperstein, "surrender of his passport will keep him here all the time." And, he added, with Mr. Ludwick's face "plastered all over the papers‚" and "being a well-known guy if you Google him," fleeing would be difficult.

Justice Kooperstein nevertheless set the high bail. She also suspended Mr. Ludwick's driving privileges, calling him a "dangerous driver."

While Mr. Ollen said his client could make the bail, it would take some time. Mr. Ludwig would be taken to the county jail in Riverside in the meantime.

Seated in the courtroom in the row in front of Pamela Ludwick were three members of Mr. Hansen's family, including his brother, Bob Hansen, flanked by Edward Burke Jr., a well-known defense attorney from Sag Harbor who was a childhood friend of the victim.

"It's a tremendous tragedy for the family," Bob Hansen said. He described his brother as a "great family man" a "tremendous friend," and a "great, great father‚" to his two sons, 14 and 11.

"He did everything for the boys," working any job he could to provide the best life for them, even driving a school bus for a time.

The victim was a real estate salesman with Douglas Elliman in Sag Harbor, and also a developer; his company was called Golden House Management. "The community of Sag Harbor is really going to miss him," his brother said.

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized.