x
Breaking News
More () »

Truck driver charged with 7 homicides in NH motorcycle crash

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, was driving a pickup pulling a flatbed trailer when he plowed into the group of motorcycle riders.
Credit: AP
This photo provided by Miranda Thompson shows the scene where several motorcycles and a pickup truck collided on a rural, two-lane highway Friday, June 21, 2019 in Randolph, N.H. New Hampshire State Police said a 2016 Dodge 2500 pickup truck collided with the riders on U.S. 2 Friday evening. The cause of the deadly collision is not yet known. The pickup truck was on fire when emergency crews arrived. (Miranda Thompson via AP)

CONCORD, N.H. — By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press 

The driver of a truck in a fiery collision on a rural New Hampshire highway that killed seven motorcyclists was charged Monday with seven counts of negligent homicide.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, was arrested Monday morning at his home in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on a fugitive from justice charge related to Friday's crash, the New Hampshire attorney general's office said.

He was expected to make a court appearance on the charge Monday afternoon in Springfield.

A man who answered the phone at the home of Zhukovskyy's family and would identify himself only as his brother-in-law said Monday that the family is in shock and feeling the same pain as everyone else but couldn't say whether the driver was right or wrong.

Since the accident, the brother-in-law, said Zhukovskyy had remained in his room, hadn't eaten and talked to no one.

Credit: AP
Motorcyclists participate in a "Blessing of the Bikes" ceremony in Columbia, N.H., Sunday, June 23, 2019. While such ceremonies are periodically held, the Sunday event held special meaning for the motorcycle community. Bikers and veterans are reeling from a crash, in which a pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer collided with a group of 10 motorcycles Friday evening. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

Zhukovskyy's pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer collided with a group of 10 motorcycles Friday on a two-lane highway in the northern New Hampshire community of Randolph, investigators said.

The victims were members or supporters of the Marine JarHeads, a New England motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses, and ranged in age from 42 to 62.

The circumstances of the wreck have been mysterious.

George Loring, a JarHeads member who lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, and was a few hundred yards from the crash, said Zhukovskyy has "got to live with it for the rest of his life."

Credit: AP
Motorcyclists attend the Blessing of the Bikes ceremony in Columbia, N.H. on Sunday, June 23, 2019. The long-planned ceremony for motorcycle enthusiasts became a scene of mourning and reflection as about 400 people paid tribute to seven bikers killed Saturday in a devastating collision with a pickup truck. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

"Everyone's suffering so much. I guess it's going to help a little bit, knowing, but I feel sorry for the guy who did it," Loring said. "It's so sad for the brothers and sisters who died. You can be angry at him, you can be whatever. I don't know. I'm glad he's been arrested."

Authorities identified the dead as Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, New Hampshire; Albert Mazza Jr., 59, of Lee, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, 42, of Concord, New Hampshire; Aaron Perry, 45, of Farmington, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, 58, of Riverside, Rhode Island; and Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Massachusetts.

Before You Leave, Check This Out