Robert Futterman, the former head of retail brokerage RKF, was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence on Tuesday in connection with a crash that seriously injured a mother and young child.
The crash occurred in Bridgehampton, where Futterman appeared to have T-boned a Nissan Maxima with his Ford F-150, according to the East Hampton Star. His Ford has been impounded.
Futterman will be arraigned on Wednesday morning on Wednesday. The crash victims were airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital following the accident.
Futterman was fired from his namesake firm at the end of May following reported “erratic behavior” that caused Newmark to prohibit him from going to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual retail expo in Las Vegas.
A Newmark source previously told The Real Deal that Futterman’s departure was “sad” and “a messy situation.”
The crash on Tuesday follows a July 16 event in which Futterman was arrested in a boating accident. Police said the vessel he operated struck the anchor chain of a yacht, and Futterman subsequently performed poorly on sobriety tests. He was released later that day on $1,000 bail.
Futterman was arrested in August 2011 after he was pulled over in Bridgehampton for driving under the influence with his four children in the vehicle. A source told TRD at the time that he was under the influence of prescription sleep medication Ambien. He pleaded guilty to the charges and had to complete 1,000 hours of community service as well as alcohol and narcotics counseling.
Newmark went public in 2017 and closed on acquiring RKF in September 2018. The merger was not entirely smooth, as about 20 RKF brokers left the firm soon after over concerns about a culture change and lengthy employment contracts.
The firm’s dismissal of Futterman put a spotlight on risks that large firms take when they try to use acquisitions to speed up their growth.