Corcoran Hamptons broker in DWI bust
May 14, 2009 02:20PM By Jovana Rizzo
Gary DePersia
The Corcoran Group's Gary DePersia was arrested April 25 in Montauk and charged with a DWI, according to police.
Driving a blue 2007 Porsche, DePersia was stopped on Route 27 near Old West Lake Drive for speeding, driving on the shoulder of the road and crossing a double yellow line, the police report and other official documents show.
Police said 60-year-old DePersia, Corcoran's East Hampton top producer in 2008, "performed poorly" on all field sobriety tests. "There was a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath," the report says, "his speech was slurred, he was unsteady on his feet and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy."
The East Hampton resident was arrested, and then refused to take a breathalyzer test, according to the police report. He was released on his own recognizance.
He was arraigned the following morning, Detective Sergeant Christopher Anderson of the East Hampton Town Police said.
DePersia's next court date is scheduled for May 28 at 1 p.m., according to the East Hampton Town Court. This is his first offense.
Neither DePersia nor Corcoran's press office responded to repeated requests for comment. DePersia's defense lawyer, Tad Scharfenberg, wasn't immediately available for comment.
According to his Corcoran bio, DePersia, a senior vice president and associate broker at Corcoran in the East Hampton office, has been working in East End real estate for 13 years, and has participated in nearly a billion dollars of real estate transactions. His wife, Charlotte DePersia, is also a senior vice president at Corcoran.
In addition to a $60 million 55-acre property in Sag Harbor and many other multi-million dollar Hamptons listings, DePersia was the listing broker for the Stone Meadow Farm in East Hampton, which author Isabel Rose, of the Rose Associates family, recently bought for $12.5 million.
In March, DePersia was listed in a lawsuit along with many other brokers for allegedly squeezing out smaller brokerages in the Hamptons by using a computerized service that charges more than $40,000 a year to access, according to the Post.
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Comments
Anonymous
Its the Hamptons, what else are you going to do out there but to have a few drinks and swerve on the road? Ask Billy Joel.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
No surprises I saw someone higher than him at the same firm carrying on like a drunken mess at a social function. After seeing her behavoir I would never do business with them.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Hopefully the lawsuit will put him in the clink and get him off the roads.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
It seems as if the agents at corcoran are hurt so bad right now with the market and there parent company realogy goiung under, they need to escape reality and keep drinking. With out Barbra corcoran is not the same and all of them know it. Pam must be drinking to forget how bad she is doing. You would be surprised as to how many agents and brokers just drink and drink all the time.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
I don't think that if you drink and drive it necessarily makes you an evil person, especially in a place like the Hamptons, where there is no public transport and very few taxi services. I think this is all a bit harsh on Gary.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
#7, evidently you haven't lost a child to a drunk driver.
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
#9 Have you? or are you just judgemental?
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Here's judgemental: #10, you are a disgusting enabler.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
I guess now that Curbed requires commenters to register the ranters are slowly moving over here
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Ranters??The Corcoran Group cannot keep out of the news. They are an embarrasment to the industry. barbara Corcoran had such a reputable well runned firm. Sorry she had to sell. Pamela Liebman is a completely incompetent individual who is truly getting residual levels of grief and that is for one reason....she is unfit to do her job. This is just one more piece of news that just keeps coming back to haunt them. hey..Live Who You Are!
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
#11 as I said ranters, you judge 1100 plus agents, and staff based on one person, but you are lucky, no lawyer in their right mind would ever pick you for a jury, keep up the good work.
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Big deal,, sounds exagerated to me.
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
A Fine said it all.
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
#'s 12 and 13 are Corcoran Agents.
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Sorry but this is news. A person of Mr. DePersia's status should be more responsible in the communities he represents. He could have killed someone. No sympathies for him or for the Corcoran Group here. Because they are having a bad year...give me a break. Medicated already thank you.
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Whasherbessoffer?
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Gary is the "Best Listing Broker" in the Hamptons.He has proven that year after year. I'm confidant this is a "wake up call" for him. Thankfully no one was injured.
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Why is this posted on The Real Deal? I mean, really, you should be ashamed.
Comment #18 Posted By: Anonymous 05/14/09
Anonymous
Ashamed....maybe more responsibility needs to be taken by people who have had golden opportunities and abuse their privilidge and then take the law into their own hands here's what people should be ashamed of #21 Ponzy schemes Mortgage Fraud Real Estate Lobbying Abuses Bail outs to huge businesses DWI Get over it denial is the ultimate price to pay for stupidity.
Comment #19 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
you all have too much time on your hands go do some good for society instead of bitching about it
Comment #20 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
If you worked for Corcoran, you'd drink too. And whoever is pining away for the "good old days" of Barbara Corcoran is in heavy denial. Barbara set up that company for disaster by hiring incompetent managers for low pay (most of whom are still working there). She then left the company in their incapable hands while she went all out on her idiotic "fame campaign" which ultimately destroyed her & cost her the company.
Comment #21 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
It wouldn't be a big deal but do you really think this is the first time this guy got behind a wheel loaded? I surprised he hasn't killed someone or himself!
Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
Why was he released; any other citizen would be required to spend the night in jail when refusing to take a breathalyzer test?
Comment #23 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
Why are relevant comments being removed? This type of self centered behavior is a character flaw, and someone so potentially destructive is going to evoke a bit of vitriol. Why WAS he released?
Comment #24 Posted By: Anonymous 05/15/09
Anonymous
Does Corcoran care who brings home the bacon? With their parent company ready to go bust any day now (see other Real Deal articles on this subject), they need every commission they can get. Corcoran is far too desperate to care if their brokers are drunks, serial-murderers, or whatever - Just pull in that commission!
Comment #25 Posted By: Anonymous 05/17/09
Anonymous
I think we can suffiently assume this mans's career is in jeopardy. We already can see that Corcoran is going down. Let them be. They have taken enough abuse for their dealings.
Comment #26 Posted By: Anonymous 05/18/09
Anonymous
DePersia is a self-aggrandizing media whore. For once, he is on the wrong end of the story. It makes me smile inside...
Comment #27 Posted By: Anonymous 06/09/09
Anonymous
The guy spent the night in a cell this week too. see if it makes a headline
Comment #28 Posted By: Anonymous 07/13/09