Posted on 09/13/2024 5:07:14 PM PDT by xxqqzz
The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
Sean M. Higgins, top, the alleged drunken driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears before Judge Michael Silvanio, bottom, for his hearing via video from jail, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Woodbury, N.J.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
(Excerpt) Read more at whyy.org ...
Apparently, he was upset about something his mother told him about a family member. When he called his wife from jail, she said he was probably driving like a nut, like he usually does. Not a good idea to say much on jail phones.
It is a 2-line highway with no shoulder. He apparently thought the car passing the bicycles was slowing down and moving to the middle to keep him from passing. You need something like the jeep he had to pass on the right, partly on the grass. Still very dangerous at high speeds, even with the bicyclists there.
He is being help without bail, which I think would not happen in a lower profile case, but he might really be a flight risk.
I’d wager his wife would be glad that conversation was being recorded.
The perp seems angry that he’s being held in jail.
Couldn't that be used by defense lawyers to reduce his punishment?
There are too many aggressive drivers. I ride my bicycle for exercise and it’s something I’ve seen often. Sometimes they’ll intentionally miss you by inches, yell stuff, throw stuff, no reason given. There are road rage incidents I’ve been in—you do one little thing they don’t like and now they want to be your worst nightmare on the road.
Suspected drunk driver accused of killing NHL star is member of US Army in NJ
This should not be prosecuted as a DUI case. A DUI case involves an impaired driver who loses control of his vehicle. The perp here is a pathological @sshole who deliberately made a reckless and illegal move on the road -- which he probably would have done even he was totally sober -- that cost two people their lives.
Isn’t 0.08 roughly two beers over an hour and a half?
“”I’d wager his wife would be glad that conversation was being recorded.””
I hope she let him stay in jail!!! Held without bail so I guess that means he wasn’t about to be released BUT then why would he call his wife from jail? To check in like a GOOD husband would as to why he was late for dinner?????
Stay off of the road. If there is no bike lane, don’t ride down that road. You are just begging to be hit, especially at 8:30 PM.
Yeah, now I mainly just use side roads, and during daylight hours. Weird things happen at night.
0.08 is 2 drinks for a small teenager or woman. This guy is an army officer, so probably 180+ lbs, so it would be 4 drinks.
They kept lowering it, and IMO 0.08 is too low. However, in Norway it is 0.05 with a mandatory jail sentence.
I DO NOT CARE IF HE WAS STONE SOBER.
HE TRIED TO PASS ILLEGALLY...AND HE HIT THEM.
Yeah, it sounds like it wasn’t the ethanol, it was the the perp’s general mindset.
You see these aggressive drivers and they seem like accidents waiting to happen. This guy probably wouldn’t rob, rape, or stab someone, and wonders how he got into so much trouble.
There was a case in the news of a doctor’s wife in LA, who was racing another Mercedes on residential streets, killed two kids, and was convicted of murder. She had also been drinking, not sure if legally drunk. It also wasn’t a case of being impaired from the alcohol, but maybe emboldened.
Passing half on the grass, even with a Jeep, at maybe 70 mph, even without the bicycles, he could have easily gone out of control and had a bad one car or two car accident. Obviously, you can only pass on the right a stopped vehicle turning left, and not on the grass like that.
It seems like they are too much going after drunk (like .08, which is not quite drunk) drivers and not enough with clowns like that guy.
Exactly, I ride about 1000 miles a year. Usually in short 5-10 mile rides. I actually will ride on sidewalks, avoiding even the bike lane. Whenever I choose a road, it is with little traffic. I use grade school walking rules. I often ride at incoming traffic, and duck off or cross back over. I am VERY cognizant that drivers hate me. I hate me too, if I were a driver. Those who bike are mostly A-holes. Thinking they own the road, at 10mph on back roads. The few who “highball” it training for the STP...Seattle to Portland ride, are highly cognizant of being safe. The mass number of riders though, are entitled ...well... you know.
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