A Hudson County Superior Court judge doubled the bail, now at $2 million cash or bond, for Eric Patterson, 23, of Jersey City, in light of new evidence indicating he was on PCP when he fatally struck two teens near Union City High School last week.
[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jii4e1FwfM[/fve]
Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Michael D’Andrea reiterated that Patterson is currently charged with two counts of aggravated manslaughter in connection to the deaths of Bryan Rodriguez, 17, of Union City, and Noel Herrera, 16, of Cliffside Park on Saturday night.
D’Andrea added that crime reconstruction evidence, surveillance video evidence and a urine analysis revealing that Patterson was under of the influence of phencyclidine, better known as PCP – on top of allegedly traveling 74 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone.
In light of the new evidence uncovered by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, D’Andrea called on Hudson County Superior Court Sheila Venable to raise Patterson’s bail to $2 million.
Johnny Cardona, representing Patterson from the public defender’s office, requested his client’s “fair and reasonable bail” to be $750,000 cash or bond – though provided little evidence to support his argument, other than that his client has lived in Hudson County for his entire life.
In the end, Venable heeded D’Andrea’s argument and doubled his bail to $2 million cash or bond. Cardona declined to comment on the matter after the hearing.
