MONTICELLO – An East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania man was sentenced in Sullivan County Court on Friday to six to 18 years in state prison for the wrong-way drunk driving crash that claimed the life of a man and seriously injured his fiancé.
Patrick Collins, 51, pled guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated driving while intoxicated in connection with the wrong-way crash on Route 17 in the area of Catskill Regional Medical Center at around 10:17 p.m. on October 16, 2018. He crashed head-on into another vehicle traveling in the right direction resulting in the death of the 33-year-old driver and injury to a passenger.
Collins was arrested following an investigation by the State Police, Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office and State Police Forensic Investigation Unit and Collision Reconstruction Unit.
An off-duty Sullivan County deputy sheriff, who had just finished his shift at the county jail and was driving home, narrowly avoided being struck by Collins’ vehicle, called 911 and was the first responded on the scene to help the victims.
“This fatal crash and the resultant loss of innocent life was completely preventable and avoidable,” said District Attorney James Farrell. “The defendant chose to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and the result of that choice has irrevocably impacted the lives of his victims forever.”
Farrell said four children are fatherless as result “and a family deprived of the loss of their brother because of the actions of this defendant and the sentence handed down today re-affirms my commitment to seek justice for the victims of drunk drivers and hold these offenders responsible for their actions.
