Newly released bodycam video shows the New Jersey man accused of drunkenly plowing his vehicle into hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, undergoing a field sobriety test before his arrest in August.
The Columbus Blue Jackets forward and his younger brother — ages 31 and 29 — were biking on County Route 551 the night of on Aug. 29, near their hometown in Oldmans Township, when they were struck by a Jeep Grand Cherokee. State police said its driver, Sean Higgins, was attempting to pass another vehicle on the right when he hit the biking brothers from behind.
Johnny and Matthew, who were supposed to be groomsmen in their sister’s wedding the next day, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Throughout nearly 10 minutes of bodycam footage, obtained by ABC 6, Higgins, who’s wearing flip flops and smoking a cigarette, can be seen answering state troopers’ questions in the immediate aftermath of the crash. He tells them he was coming from a Taco Bell in Pennsville and before that, he was at his house.
When asked whether or not he’d been drinking, Higgins responds: “I mean I’ve been drinking beers but I haven’t had one in like two hours. So since the accident, like probably an hour or so.”
Before beginning a sobriety test, Higgins tells the troopers he wasn’t injured in the crash but recently underwent knee surgery. He then attempts to walk down the centerline, at times wincing in pain, but stops suddenly and turns toward the troopers.
“I’m sorry. I’m just freaked out. What am I supposed to be doing again?” he says, prompting a trooper to question how many drinks he’d had.
“Since like noon today, like five or six,” Higgins tells them, noting that he’d been drinking Miller Lite.
The troopers reads him his Miranda rights and puts him in handcuffs shortly thereafter.
Instagram / Katie Gaudreau
Katie Gaudreau with her brothers, Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were fatally struck by a suspected drunk driver. (Instagram / Katie Gaudreau)
“Is everyone OK back there? I mean, what happened?” Higgins asks at the end of the clip.
“We’ll talk about that when we get to the station,” a trooper responds.
Police later said Higgins’ blood-alcohol content was 0.087 that night, just over the legal limit in New Jersey. He’s facing multiple charges, including two counts of vehicular homicide, and has been behind bars since the night of the deadly crash.
