RANDOLPH, N.H. — A 23-year-old man who was driving a pickup truck hauling a trailer during a crash that killed seven motorcyclists in Randolph on Friday has been charged with negligent homicide.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was arrested at his home in West Springfield, Massachusetts at 8 a.m. Monday morning by the Massachusetts State Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit, New Hampshire Deputy Attorney General Jane Young said Monday. He was charged with seven counts of negligent homicide.
Massachusetts State Police said they also found wax packets containing a residue suspected to be heroin at Zhukovskyy’s home. The residue will be tested at the Massachusetts State Police lab. More charges are pending.
Zhukovskyy was taken into custody on a fugitive from justice charge, Young said.
The investigation into the case is active.
Police said on Friday that Zhukovskyy’s 2016 Dodge 2500 pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer of the kind used to haul cars collided with the bikers around 6:30 p.m. Friday on U.S. 2, a two-lane highway in Randolph, police said. Randolph is about a two-hour drive north of Concord, and a three-hour drive from Boston.
The Associated Press reported that records show Zhukovskyy was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving last month in Connecticut and in 2013 in Westfield, Mass. In that case, he was placed on probation for one year and had his license suspended for 210 days, The Westfield News reported.
Also, records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration indicate that the company Zhukovskyy was driving for, Westfield Transport, has been cited for various violations in the last two years, including two instances where drivers were in possession of narcotic drugs, MassLive.com reported.
The company did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Young announced the names of the seven people who were killed in the crash Sunday at a press conference at the state Incident Planning and Operations Center. They were all members of the biker group JarHeads Motorcycle Club, a group for Marines and their spouses.
In addition to Desma Oakes, 42, of Concord, and Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, other New Hampshire bikers killed in the collision were identified as Albert Mazza, 59, of Lee, and Aaron Perry, 45, of Farmington. Daniel Pereira, 58, of Riverside, Rhode Island, and a couple, Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Massachusetts were also killed. Young said the Corrs were riding on the same motorcycle at the time of the crash.
Two additional bikers were injured during the crash: Joshua Morin, 45, of Dalton, Massachusetts, who is in stable condition at Maine Medical Center, and Steven Lewis, 58, of Brimfield, Massachusetts, who has since been released from an area hospital, Young said.
Young said State Police, local and federal authorities responded to the scene on Friday. Authorities were still at the scene of the crash Sunday afternoon.
“They have worked through both nights and will continue to work through the hours and days to come,” she said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also among the agencies investigating. Authorities said they are asking for the public’s help in the form of videos, photos or other information about the accident or the vehicles involved.