Driver charged with murder in Montco river crash

A Montgomery County man was drunk, high and unlicensed when he backed his station wagon into a canal, killing two friends, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said today.

Robert Bruce Hoffman, 21, of Collegeville, was charged with homicide by vehicle and related offenses for the deaths of Clinton Berger, 29, and Lauren Magargal, 25, according to District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.

Hoffman, Berger, Margargal and another passenger were parked in a 2007 Volkswagen Passat between Tow Path Road and the Schuylkill River the night of Oct 4. As Hoffman prepared to leave, he instead backed over the edge of the embankment and into the canal. The car rolled over and landed upside down in 4 feet of water; Berger and Magargal couldn't get out and drowned. The third passenger was able to escape.

Toxicology tests showed that Hoffman had marijuana, alcohol and Clonazepam, an anti-anxiety drug, in his system, the D.A.'s office said.

Investigators later determined that a third passenger pulled Berger from the car, but he "was unresponsive ... and making a gurgling sound," according to the affidavit. Police found him floating in the canal and retrieved him, according to the affidavit.

Hoffman was arraigned Tuesday before Magisterial District Judge Albert J. Augustine, who set bail at $10,000 and ordered that Hoffman not drive or have any drugs or alcohol. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 4 before Magisterial District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki Jr.

The accident happened on a narrow, multi-use towpath near historic Lock 60 on the Schuylkill Canal, across the river from downtown Phoenixville.