After authorities in New York City arrested a suspected drunk driver accused of fatally running over three people as they celebrated Independence Day in Manhattan, the driver’s ex-girlfriend came out and said she was “not surprised” by what occurred.
Daniel Christopher Hyden’s ex-girlfriend spoke to the New York Post on Friday and said that her former partner had struggled with alcoholism for many years. She once warned him that “this would happen one day.”
Resist the Mainstream previously reported that Hyden has been identified as a substance abuse counselor and an author who allegedly claimed to help “prevent death.”
“He’s supposedly sober but obviously not,” Hyden’s former partner told the Post.
“This is shocking because he hurt people. He killed people. I’m so hurt over that,” she added.
“But I’m not surprised,” she said. “Ok, I’m not surprised. This is the reason we’re not together, because of his issues.”
Hyden is currently charged with driving while intoxicated after he allegedly ran his truck into a crowd of people on July 4 at Corlears Hook Park in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Hyden’s ex-girlfriend said she saw the suspect last week when they dropped off their daughter at his house in the Bronx and the pair went to the fair in New Jersey.
While speaking to the New York Post, the ex-girlfriend said she felt “horrible” after the incident.
“I told him this would happen one day. I told him,” she said.
She continued by saying that Hyden “has a long history” of alcohol abuse. She said she did not know he was still a heavy drinker after they broke up in 2016.
“After we broke up, he went and got his alcohol and drug counselor license. Went back to school to try and better himself,” she revealed. “He did want to stop. He wanted to do good. But he had an illness. It’s a lifelong illness.”
Hyden, who is accused of mowing down 11 individuals, was ordered held without bail on Saturday, according to the New York Post.
He is currently facing 25 years or more in prison on three counts of vehicular homicide for the fatal crash that killed three people and left 8 others injured.
While in court, prosecutors showed images of the damage caused by Hyden’s pickup truck.
“That damage is from striking 11 human beings,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matt Bogdanos told Judge Robert Mandelbaum while showing the pictures.
Hyden wrote a book titled “The Sober Addict.” While in court, he portrayed himself as someone who fights against substance abuse.
He is accused of driving a gray Ford F-150 through the intersection of Water Street and Jackson Street over the sidewalk and into a crowd who were celebrating Independence Day in the park.
The tragic DUI incident occurred around 9 p.m. in Manhattan.
The unfortunate wreck took the lives of Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, as well as Ana Morel, 43.
Hyden has been arrested on three occasions in the past and has an extensive rap sheet that spans all the way to Wisconsin.
