WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A former Tunbridge official and current Williamstown, Vt., town manager who was arrested for driving with a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit pleaded guilty to driving under the influence this week.
A Windsor Superior Court Judge ordered Jacqueline Higgins, 57, of Tunbridge, to pay a $500 fine and additional court fees Tuesday, according to a docket in the case. Initially, Higgins was also charged with carelessly operating a vehicle and lying to a police officer during the August arrest, but those charges were dismissed this week.
The plea stems from an incident on Aug. 8 when Higgins crashed her truck off the side of Whitney Hill Road in Tunbridge. She told troopers that she was driving home from a Selectboard meeting in Williamstown and denied having anything to drink before the crash, according to an affidavit written by Vermont State Trooper Adam Roaldi.
But troopers found four empty 500-milliliter boxes of wine by the truck and said that Higgins “appeared confused and had trouble focusing,” Roaldi wrote. A test showed that she had a blood alcohol content of 0.2% — more than twice the legal limit of .08 — according to the affidavit.
Higgins has been the town manager of Williamstown since 2011, according to her LinkedIn page. She also served as the collector of delinquent taxes in Tunbridge until 2018, and she served as administrative assistant to the Selectboard in Tunbridge.