Highland Mills Man Arraigned For Vehicular Manslaughter

GOSHEN, NY — A Highland Mills man was arraigned in connection with the death of his passenger in a collision with a tractor trailer. Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler said Robert Higgins, 24, of Highland Mills, was arraigned Monday, April 2 in Orange County Court Judge. The indictment charged him with crimes including felony first-degree vehicular manslaughter.

Hoovler said the charges were filed in connection with the death of a young man who had been a passenger in a car that Higgins was driving Dec. 22, 2017. Higgins had been driving an automobile on around 1:30 a.m., on Route 32 in the Town of Woodbury, while intoxicated, police said.

The car driven by Higgins collided with a tractor trailer, killing Higgins’s passenger, Preston Jones, 23, of Fayetteville, N.C., recordonline.com said.

The matter was presented to an Orange County grand jury, which charged Higgins with first-degree vehicular manslaughter and second-degree vehicular manslaughter, felonies, and aggravated operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, misdemeanors. Bail was set in the amount of $5,000. Higgins is next scheduled to appear in court on May 10, 2018.

“Fatalities which occur as the result of driving while intoxicated are as tragic as they are preventable,” Hoovler said. “Too many lives have been irreparably harmed by those who drive while intoxicated. No one wants to have to live with the guilt of knowing that they caused the death of a friend, loved one, or some other innocent person using the roads. If you have been drinking, call a taxicab or make other arrangements to get yourself safely home.”

Hoovler thanked the New York State Police and the Town of Woodbury Police Department for their investigation.

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