OLDMANS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A newly released body camera video from New Jersey State Police depicts the arrest of the driver accused of hitting and killing Columbus Blue Jackets player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew while they were biking earlier this year.
Johnny and Matthew were riding their bicycles on a road in Oldsman Township when a suspected drunken driver struck them on the eve of their sister's wedding in August.
In the bodycam video, 44-year-old Sean Higgins is seen outside his vehicle and, when asked where he was coming from, tells the officer that he had just left a Taco Bell. The officer then asked Higgins how much he had to drink that day.
Higgins replied that he had been drinking beers but hadn't had one in about one to two hours. The officer then began to administer several sobriety tests.
The officer asked Higgins again about his alcohol consumption that day, to which Higgins said that since about noon, he had drunk about five or six beers.
The officer then handcuffed Higgins and read him his Miranda rights.
Higgins is heard asking one of the officers, "Is everybody OK back there? I mean what happened?"
The officer replied, "We'll talk about that when we get to the station."
Higgins had a blood-alcohol level of .087, which is above the state’s .08 legal limit, and he failed a field sobriety test, police said. He faces preliminary charges of two counts of death by auto, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a vehicle.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the NHL and was set to start his third with the Blue Jackets. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames. Matthew played in the AHL and ECHL and became head coach of the boys' ice hockey team at Gloucester Catholic High School.