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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A truck driver who took heroin and cocaine was charged Tuesday in a deadly crash that killed 7 motorcyclists in 2019.
A prosecutor
said the commercial driver charged in the deaths of seven members of a Marine
motorcycle club told police he caused the crash because he wasn’t looking but
his lawyer said it was the fault of the lead biker, who looked over his
shoulder at his fellow riders moments before the collision, The Associated
Press reports.
Volodymyr
Zhukovskyy, 26, who reportedly took heroin, fentanyl and cocaine on June 21,
2019, “weaved back and forth repeatedly” before the head-on crash, prosecutor
John McCormick said in his opening statement in Zhukovskyy’s trial in state
superior court in Lancaster, according to The Associated Press.
He said
multiple witnesses would testify that Zhukovskyy, who said he was reaching down
to get a drink before the crash, was seen going over the center line on U.S.
Route 2 in Randolph, New Hampshire, according to The Associated Press.
McCormick
said Zhukovskyy knew how dangerous heroin was because on May 5 that year, he
had overdosed on the drug while on a fishing trip with his family and was
revived by police, who administered an overdose reversal drug, The Associated
Press reported.
“This wasn’t
just an accident,” McCormick said. “This was criminal recklessness and criminal
negligence.”
Steve
Mirkin, Zhukovskyy’s lawyer admitted his client had taken the drugs on June 21,
but argued that there is no evidence that he was impaired at the time of the crash
and that police did not make any observations in the hours afterward suggesting
he was impaired.
He argued
that the president of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, Albert “Woody” Mazza, who
led the pack of riders, lost control of his motorcycle, came into contact with
Zhukovskyy’s truck first and caused the crash, according to The Associated
Press. Mirkin said Mazza had been drinking and his blood alcohol level was
close to twice the legal limit of .08 in New Hampshire.
“Drunk
drivers kill,” Mirkin said. “Al Mazza was drunk. Vlad Zhukovskyy is not guilty
of any of these charges.”
Jurors
visited the crash scene Monday and traced Zhukovskyy’s route from an auto
dealership in Gorham to the crash site, about 10 miles (16 kilometers away
The motorcyclists
who died are Mazza, of Lee, New Hampshire; Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, a couple
from Lakeville, Massachusetts; Michael Ferazzi, of Contoocook, New Hampshire;
Desma Oakes, of Concord, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, of Riverside, Rhode
Island; and Aaron Perry, of Farmington, New Hampshire, according to The
Associated Press.
Truck driver faces multiple counts of homicide, manslaughter
Zhukovskyy,
of West Springfield, Massachusetts pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of
negligent homicide, manslaughter, driving under the influence and reckless
conduct and has been in jail since 2019.
Zhukovskyy told
police he had used both heroin and cocaine the morning of the accident but said
he was “fine and OK to drive” later that evening, authorities said.