Fourth Person Dies After Truck Plowed Into a July Fourth Party in NYC 

NEW YORK (AP/Daily News/TNS) — A fourth person has died after an allegedly intoxicated driver crashed his pickup truck into a Fourth of July gathering in New York City, police said.

Emily Ruiz, 30, died Tuesday of injuries she sustained when the truck plowed into a group celebrating the holiday in a park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, police announced Thursday.

Three victims were initially pronounced dead after the crash, and several others were injured.

Daniel Hyden, 44, of Monmouth, New Jersey, has been charged with crimes including aggravated vehicular homicide, assault, manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

Tim Pruitt, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Hyden, said Hyden “is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a zealous defense.”

Hyden is a substance abuse counselor and lecturer who was arrested for assault last year when he punched someone who disagreed with his teaching methods.

He is the author of a book called “The Sober Addict: A Guide on How to Be Functional With the Dysfunctional Disease of Addiction” and is currently a program director for the Manhattan-based Services for the UnderServed, according to his LinkedIn page.

“My jobs are my passions and each allows me to advocate on the behalf of all those impacted by the disease of addiction,” Hyden, who also goes by DC Hyden, wrote on his LinkedIn page. “My mission is to use my lifelong experience with addiction to teach addicts how to save themselves and achieve long term recovery.”

On Feb. 29, 2023, Hyden was arrested for punching a 41-year-old student who took issue with his “teaching methods” a police source with knowledge of the case said. At the time, he was an instructor for Recoveries R Us on E. 105th St. in East Harlem. The student was not seriously harmed.

His LinkedIn page notes that Hyden left Recoveries R Us around the time of his arrest.