The Jersey City man charged with fatally striking two teens on Saturday while high on PCP and driving 74 miles per hour in North Bergen on Kennedy Boulevard will make his first court appearance today on two counts of aggravated manslaughter.
JERSEY CITY -- The Jersey City man charged with fatally striking two teens on Saturday while high on PCP and driving nearly 50 miles per hour over the speed limit will make his first court appearance today on the new counts of aggravated manslaughter.
Eric Patterson, 23, will appear in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City at 3:30 today after the charges against him were upgraded yesterday when it was found he was high on PCP at the time of the incident.
Patterson was arrested at the scene following the 9:15 p.m. crash on Kennedy Boulevard near 26th Street in North Bergen, just over the border from Union City. Investigators said they believe he was driving 74 mph, nearly three times Kennedy Boulevard's 25 miles-per-hour speed limit.
Officials believe he was heading north on Kennedy Boulevard when he swerved to avoid cars stopped at a red light at 26th Street. He crossed over the two southbound lanes, jumped the curb and struck Bryan Rodriguez, 17, of Union City, and Noel Herrera, 17, of Cliffside Park, who were both killed, officials said.
Aggravated manslaughter carries a possible prison sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison upon conviction.
Patterson will likely appear in court via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.
He was originally charged with two counts of death by auto and one count of assault by auto, as well as being cited for speeding, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.