‘Is everything OK back there?’: Bodycam shows alleged drunk driver returning from Taco Bell oblivious that he fatally struck NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, brother

Sean Higgins and Johnny Gaudreau

Background: Sean Higgins (New Jersey State Police). Inset: Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Johnny Gaudreau plays during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio (AP Photo/Jeff Dean).

Police body camera video released by the New Jersey State Police shows troopers administering sobriety tests to the accused drunk driver who plowed over NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother.

A wobbly Sean Higgins told troopers he was “freaked out” about the situation as they guided him through a series of test, the video showed. About an hour earlier around sunset on Aug. 29, Higgins was trying to pass a car on the left when he allegedly hit Gaudreau, 31, and his younger brother Matthew Gaudreau as they rode their bikes along the road.

A trooper approached the 43-year-old Higgins who was standing outside his car.

“Where were you coming from, sir?,” the trooper asked.

“Taco Bell,” Higgins responded, later saying he was at his house before that.

The trooper then asked how much he had to drink.

“I mean, I’ve been drinking beers but I haven’t had one in like two hours,” he said.

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Troopers checked Higgins’ eyes and had him walk forward and then back. Higgins wobbled a bit as he walked. Then the trooper had him stand on one foot with the other about six inches off the ground, which Higgins struggled to complete, blaming it on a recent knee surgery.

“I’m sorry, I’m, I’m just freaked out like, what am I, what am I supposed to be doing again?” he said.

Higgins then admitted to drinking “five or six” beers during the day. A trooper subsequently placed Higgins under arrest, putting him in handcuffs before reading him his rights.

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