A young British tourist who allegedly drove the wrong way on the road in Rockland County, crashing into another car and critically injuring two children, is back in the state to face criminal charges.
Thomas Robb is accused of fleeing to his home country after the crash in Blauvelt in July 2022, which left Jacqueline Pache with a broken wrist and injured her children, aged 6 and 7 at the time. has been done.
Rob, who was 20 at the time, was charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, leaving the scene of an incident.
However, after being released on $25,000 bail, he left the country and returned to the UK, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest.
After more than two years of legal battles involving both the Department of Justice and the Rockland District Attorney's Office, Robb was extradited to the United States to stand trial.
He is suspected of driving the rented BMW the wrong way down Greenbush Road and onto Route 303.
The BMW first collided with a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze driven by the injured mother of two children, then a 2021 Dodge Challenger.
Police said the other passengers in the car, also from the United Kingdom, fled the scene after the crash and ran towards the nearby Metro-North train tracks.
Rob is said to have returned to the UK illegally using the passport of one of his triplet siblings. The Sunday Express reported. Previously.
The landscape gardener, from the village of Roydon in Essex, south-east England, was arrested at a private clinic in May last year, 21 months after he went on the run.
He was being held in Wandsworth, south-west London, until his full extradition hearing in November.
His lawyer Karen Todner told the Sunday Express her client was “completely traumatized” by the incident.
“He went on his first trip abroad without his parents and simply made the mistake of driving on the wrong side of the road, with dire consequences,” she said. “He is very remorseful.”
Jacqueline Pachay, a mother of two from Newark, New Jersey, also suffered a severe injury in the accident, including a shattered left wrist.
She condemned his actions after he failed to show up for a scheduled court appearance in August 2022.
“It's very upsetting because if he's nervous, that's fine.” she told CBS New York at that time. “He might be nervous, but he won't wake up. So I don't think he feels any guilt.”
Jacqueline's 6-year-old son suffered serious head injuries in the accident, and her 7-year-old son was also hospitalized for a week.
Rob's grandmother, Catherine Fort, branded him a “coward”.
“I was in the courtroom and I think this is cowardice,” she told CBS at the time. Everyone says he made a mistake. If it's a mistake, face that mistake. ”
Robb was scheduled to appear in Rockland County Court on Wednesday.
