Designated driver kept everybody safe. Then a drunken driver hit him, NJ cops say
For three hours Saturday night and into Sunday morning, Michael Sot, 20, safely ferried his college friends back and forth to a party in Ewing, New Jersey, as a designated driver, reported WNBC.
At 2 a.m. Sunday, a 2018 Kia Optima driven by David Lamar V, 22, crossed the center line and collided head-on with the 2007 Dodge Charger driven by Sot, police say, according to NJ.com.
Five other College of New Jersey students in the car with Sot, a sophomore math major, were injured, according to the publication. A passenger in Lamar’s vehicle also was hurt.
Sot, who suffered head trauma, a punctured lung, fractured vertebrae and other broken bones, according to a GoFundMe account set up after the crash, died Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Lamar will be charged with vehicular homicide in his death, reported NJ.com.
Lamar, of West Windsor, N.J., also faces seven counts of assault by auto as well as charges of driving while intoxicated, operating without insurance, careless driving, unsafe lane change, failure to produce a license or registration, and improper passing in a no-passing zone, reported The Bridgewater Courier News.
Sot had been driving his friends at The College of New Jersey to and from an off-campus party from Saturday night until the crash, reported WNBC.
“He was always doing the right thing, no matter what,” friend Vincent Crisafi said, according to News 12 New Jersey. “It’s just not fair…I don’t wish this upon anybody.”
“Rest easy Mike. I will make you proud. I love you more than you’ll ever know. See you soon,” his brother, Jon Sot, wrote on Twitter.
Hundreds gathered Tuesday in Clark, New Jersey, for a vigil honoring Sot, who had been a standout high school baseball player there, reported The Bridgewater Courier News.
“This news is heartbreaking. Michael was an outstanding student, and a trusted and caring friend with a bright future ahead of him,” college president Kathryn A. Foster said in a statement after his death, reported NJ.com.