Grandfather, grandson killed by alleged drunk driver in Somerset on Christmas identified

Authorities have identified the elderly man and his teenage grandson who were killed by an alleged drunk driver on Christmas night in Somerset.

At around 11 p.m. on Monday, Somerset police said, they responded to a crash caused by a driver going in the wrong direction on the Somerset side of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge.

That driver, Adam Gauthier, 41, collided with a car carrying three members of a family from Seekonk, authorities said.

Floriano Arruda, 73, and his grandson Jacoby Arruda, 15, ultimately died from their injuries, the Bristol County District Attorney’s office said on Tuesday. Floriano’s wife Donna Arruda, 68, was in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.

The driver and a passenger from a third car were hospitalized with minor injuries, the DA said.

“This is a terrible tragedy, especially when it occurred on Christmas night. My heart grieves for the victims and their family for their terrible loss,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said. 

Gauthier, formerly a Somerset resident, was brought to Saint Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford with non-life-threatening injuries. He was arraigned at the hospital on charges including motor vehicle homicide while under the influence; manslaughter, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and wrong-way operation on a state highway. 

He was held on $100,000 cash bail and is set to appear in Fall River District Court for a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 9.

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