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Who is Volodymyr Zhukovskyy? Trial begins for trucker who mowed down 7 members of Jarheads Motorcycle Club

Zhukovskyy is facing trial on charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide, negligent homicide while driving under the influence, and reckless conduct

LANCASTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: LancasterA commercial truck driver charged with causing the deaths of seven members of a Marine motorcycle club will stand trial on Tuesday, July 26, more than three years after the crash in northern New Hampshire.

An 18-person jury visited the crash site on Monday, July 25, and traced driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy's route from an auto dealership in Gorham to the scene in Randolph 10 miles away via U.S. Route 2. Opening statements are expected to commence Tuesday, July 26, at state superior court in Lancaster. The bikers who died on June 21, 2019, were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and aged between 42 to 62. They belonged to the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, made up of Marine veterans. The motorcyclists had left a motel along the highway and were headed to an American Legion post located in Gorham to prepare for an annual meet, when tragedy befell.

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The motorcyclists were traveling east when they had a head-on collision with the westbound truck, which was reportedly towing an empty flatbed trailer. Among those killed were Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, a couple from Lakeville, Massachusetts; Michael Ferazzi, of Contoocook, New Hampshire; Albert Mazza, of Lee, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, of Concord, New Hampshire; Aaron Perry, of Farmington, New Hampshire; and Daniel Pereira, of Riverside, Rhode Island. Aside from the deaths, several bikers were injured, the Boston Globe reported.  

Who is Volodymyr Zhukovskyy?

26-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, is accused of crashing his pickup truck into a group of motorcyclists. He is facing trial on charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide, negligent homicide while driving under the influence, and reckless conduct. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been in jail since the incident.

Federal investigators noted that Zhukovskyy, who was on his way back after delivering vehicles for a Massachusetts transport company, regularly used drugs. In fact, the driver himself told the authorities that he had used both heroin and cocaine on the morning of the incident, but said he was "fine and OK to drive" later that evening. Meanwhile, his lawyers have argued that an independent analysis showed one of the motorcyclists who died was drunk and was the one who hit the truck and caused the crash. Federal investigators admitted that some of the bikers and passengers were impaired by alcohol, but concluded it wasn't the reason for the crash.

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In December 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board approved a report that Zhukovskyy’s impairment from the aforementioned drugs was the “probable cause” for him to cross the center line on the highway and crash into the bikers. Prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy shouldn't have been on the road in the first place and that his commercial driving license should have been revoked following a drunken driving arrest in Connecticut about two months earlier.