A Presbyterian minister who had just received a DUI in Florida thought he'd try again, hitting the road while intoxicated — but this time his joyride ended with a deadly crash, killing a mom and injuring her three children.
Nicholas Betancourt, 33, is facing a string of charges including manslaughter while DUI, vehicular homicide and reckless driving with serious bodily injury, along with drug charges, after the death of Dana Maria Rivera on February 28.
Betancourt was driving north in a Chrysler Pacifica minivan along Gunn Highway around 3:45 p.m when he suddenly entered the opposite lanes and collided with Rivera's Lincoln Town car, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says. …
Rivera, 36, became trapped in the driver's seat after the crash and suffered fatal injuries. Her three children – 4-year-old Gianna, 6-year-old Anna and her 15-year-old son Nick – survived but were all seriously injured. …
"Deputy Garcia made contact with Defendant on scene and observed the defendant to be 'on the nod' with his head falling down and his eyes droopy," according to a prosecutor's motion, via The Independent.
In case there was any doubt about his devotion to drugs, the devout minister reportedly tested "positive for cocaine, amphetamines, oxycodone and benzodiazepines." He also reportedly left a hefty supply of drugs — including "methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, Oxycodone, Xanax, Carisoprodol, and Narcan nasal spray" — on his backseat, for good measure. How a drug-addled gentleman ever becomes a man of cloth is one of God's little mysteries.
Previously: Pastor masturbated outside Florida Starbucks, say cops
