A suspected drunk driver accused of hitting 11 people at a Fourth of July celebration on the Lower East Side was ordered held without bail Saturday.
Substance abuse counselor Daniel Christopher Heiden is facing more than 25 years in prison on three counts of vehicular homicide in a horrific crash that left three people dead and eight injured.
Prosecutors showed photos of damage allegedly left by Heiden’s pickup truck.
“This victimization took place among 11 people,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matt Bogdanos told Judge Robert Mandelbaum, showing him photos of the carnage.
Hayden, 44, whose face was still visibly swollen, kept his head down throughout the hearing.
Authorities said they have not yet received test results for Heiden’s blood alcohol content, but he refused to take a breathalyzer test after the crash and appeared to have his eyes closed, so no one noticed his bloodshot eyes.
Heiden’s attorney declined to comment after the arraignment Saturday morning.
Hyden, who wrote the book “The Sober Addict,” portrayed himself as a well-meaning substance abuse counselor and a positive role model for others struggling with addiction.
Law enforcement sources said Hyden appeared to have gotten into a fight with a bouncer at a downtown bar on Thursday night after being denied entry because he was already intoxicated.
Sources said security agreed to refund his ticket price for the Independence Day party and let him go about an hour before the fatal crash in nearby Corears Hook Park.
Police said Hyden was arrested after he allegedly drove a gray Ford F-150 through the intersection of Water and Jackson streets, crossing the sidewalk and into a crowd celebrating the holiday at the park just before 9 p.m.
Surveillance camera footage showed the truck speeding down the road without showing any signs of slowing down at the junction just before the accident.
The video shows the car jumping the curb and crashing into a fence, which was unable to stop it as it hurtled towards the family, sparks flying.
The accident killed Lucille Pinckney (59), her son Herman Pinckney (38), and Anna Morell (43), who lived near the scene of the accident.
The eight others injured included Herman’s longtime girlfriend, Jessica Perot, and her 11-year-old son, Jacob Velazquez, whose relatives told The Washington Post that Velazquez was “traumatized” by the loss of a father figure.
Neighbors said Hayden, formerly of New Jersey, now lives in the Bronx.
Hyden has been arrested at least three times in New York City and has a lengthy criminal record that stretches all the way to Wisconsin.
