April Hankinson, the driver of the SUV that apparently struck an Ohio University graduate student on the Richland Avenue Bridge, said she had consumed too much alcohol to be driving
according to a search warrant. The student was later found dead in the Hocking River.
Athens Police officers smelled alcohol on Hankinson on June 30 when they talked to her at the scene of the accident and at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, 55 Hospital Drive, where the drivers were treated for minor injuries, according to the warrant.
When police officers did follow-up interviews with Hankinson at the Athens City Police Department, she said that she had consumed beer and liquor, according to the warrant.
On July 3, Judge L. Alan Goldsberry of the Athens County Common Pleas Court issued the warrant to search Hankinson's 2005 Ford Explorer to officer Gary Braglin of the Athens Police Department.
When Braglin searched Hankinson's vehicle, he recovered a Hypnotiq wrapper. Hypnotiq is a French liquor made from vodka, cognac and fruit juices.
The evidence could lead to a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide for Hankinson, an Athens resident, according to the warrant.
The accident occurred around 11:20 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, when Hankinson ran a red light at Ohio Route 682 while traveling northbound on Richland Avenue. A driver traveling eastbound on Route 682 hit Hankinson's vehicle.
According to the search warrant, Hankinson's SUV went onto the sidewalk of the Richland Avenue Bridge struck the bridge and traveled down the guardrail of the bridge.
Careening down the bridge, Hankinson apparently hit the student, police said.
Hankinson did not report that she had hit anyone, said Lt. Randy Gray of the Athens Police Department.
On July 1 the body of Abhishek Singh, a physics student from India who had just finished his first year of graduate school, was found in the Hocking River behind the New Life Assembly of God church, 10 S. Green Dr.
Singh's body had suffered severe trauma and when police removed his clothing, they found what they believe was a red piece of a taillight cover on Singh's right shirtsleeve, according to the warrant.
Police also found clothing fibers and hairs that seemed to match Singh's on the bridge, according to the warrant. Glasses that might have belonged to Singh were found on the wall of the bridge and his credit card was discovered below in the river.
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Christa Gould
