Minister accused of drunken wreck killing mom and injuring 3 kids - hours after being released from jail on DUI charge
Nicholas Betancourt, 33, is facing a string of charges after he is alleged to have caused fatal crash while DUI
A Florida minister is accused of getting behind the wheel drunk hours after being released from jail and getting into a car wreck that killed a mom and injured her three kids.
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. One suffered damage to the left kidney, along with a bone fracture around the eye and cuts to the leg. A second had a broken leg while the third child had chest pain, bruising and a swollen right foot.
Deputies said Betancourt appeared intoxicated when officers found him at the scene, according to a prosecutors’ motion obtained by Law & Crime.
“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,” the motion alleged. “Dash camera footage recovered shows the Pacifica operated by Defendant leaving its lane of travel and entering into the lane of travel for the Town Car at the time of the crash.”
A test of Betancourt’s airbag control system inside his car suggested he had been traveling just under 60mph at the time of the crash, above the 45mph speed limit, prosecutors say.
Drug tests carried out on the suspect were positive for cocaine, amphetamines, oxycodone and benzodiazepines, according to the motion put forward for his pretrial detention.
A traffic homicide investigator also found a stash of drugs on the backseat of the minister’s Pacifica, including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, Oxycodone, Xanax, Carisoprodol, Narcan nasal spray and other drug paraphernalia, the motion added.
Further investigations found that police first arrested Betancourt for a separate alleged DUI incident on February 27 but he was released at 9 a.m. the following morning after posting a $500 bail with a suspended license.
The fatal crash took place less than seven hours later.
Hillsborough booking records listed Betancourt as a “minister” and his employer as a local Presbyterian church though the name was omitted.
Tributes have been paid to the mom-of-four in an online obituary that said she was “kind, loving, generous, and silly” and “busy all of the time taking her kids to school, some after-school programs, and kept up a home for her family.” She is said to have held down two jobs in hospitality at the Steinbrenner High School, and Publix deli. A funeral was held last week.
"A mother lost her life, and her children will carry that emotional scar forever,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister in a statement. "Nothing will ever bring their mother back or erase the trauma these children will carry for the rest of their lives, but we want them to know they are not alone. We will stand by them.”