Driver in Fatal Sag Harbor DWI Tried to Buy Boat, Flee: District Attorney

Sean Ludwick, the driver who allegedly drove drunk and left his passenger on the road in Sag Harbor after an accident last summer tried to buy a boat and flee the country, a representative for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said today.

According to Spota, Sean Ludwick, a New York City real estate developer charged in fatal hit-and-run crash in Sag Harbor last summer, was returned to Suffolk County by United States Marshals Service and other federal authorities in response to a bench warrant issued by State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho.

He was arrested Tuesday night at his home on Brick Kiln Road in Sag Harbor by Southampton Town Police, Spota said.

Justice Camacho remanded Ludwick to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility Wednesday morning, Spota said.

Ludwick, while in Puerto Rico, allegedly made inquiries about purchasing a boat large enough to travel to South America, and also had allegedly made or was trying to make arrangements to take sailing lessons, Spota said.

Ludwick pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment with charges including aggravated vehicular homicide at his arraignment earlier this month, according to the DA.

Suffolk County District Attorney Vehicular Crimes Bureau Chief John Scott Prudenti told Justice Camacho that Ludwick’s blood had a BAC of .18 percent four hours after the August 30 crash that killed his passenger, 53-year-old Paul Hansen, according to the DA.

Forensic evidence indicates that Ludwick allegedly moved Hansen’s after the crash, leaving Hansen to die just feet from the driveway of his home on Rolling Hill Court East in Sag Harbor where Ludwick struck a utility pole at a curve, Spota said earlier this month.

“The mangled rims of the damaged Porsche left a trail of gouged pavement to Woodvale Street, approximately a quarter-mile from the crash, where Southampton Town police found the defendant standing by the wreckage when they placed him under arrest for driving while intoxicated,” a release from Spota’s office said.

Before Tuesday night’s arrest, Ludwick was free on $1 million bond and was directed today by the court to surrender his passport at his court appearance earlier this month.

The indictment charges the defendant with aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene, reckless driving, speeding, failure to stay in a single lane and driving on the shoulder or slope of the roadway.

The top charge of aggravated vehicular homicide is punishable by a sentence in state prison of eight and one-third to 25 years, DA Spota said. Leaving the scene of a crash resulting in serious injury or death is punishable by a maximum of two and one-third to seven years in an upstate correctional facility, he added.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.