A Sound Beach man accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife was back in court Tuesday for allegedly violating a restraining order over the weekend.

Suffolk cops arrested Gary Katz last month and accused him of offering an undercover officer $20,000 to murder estranged wife Lisa Skowran. The 51-year-old claims he was driving to a local mechanic when police arrested him for violating an order of protection. Out on $500,000 bail, the judge threatened to throw him in jail if he were to violate the terms again. Katz says Skowran lives just off a main road and she called the cops as he drove by.

Skowran says she lives in fear every day Katz is out of jail. She adds Suffolk police have made her more comfortable as they've stepped up patrols around her house.