Firefighters testify at hearing into NH crash that killed 7 bikers
LANCASTER, N.H. – Prosecutors in the case of a truck driver who's charged with causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire in 2019, including a former Plymouth, Massachusetts, police sergeant, called several witnesses at a hearing Tuesday to set up a timeline of the truck's path before the crash.
The defense questioned the accounts and said the testimony didn't prove it was the same vehicle.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 25, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, is scheduled to face trial on Nov. 29 on multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, driving under the influence and reckless conduct stemming from the crash in Randolph, New Hampshire, on June 21, 2019. He pleaded not guilty.
The victims, members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Among the bikers killed were Michael Ferazzi, 62, a former Plymouth, Massachusetts, police sergeant, and Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Massachusetts. Edward Corr was a longtime member of the Whitman VFW, and he often participated in fundraisers and motorcycle runs to help veterans in need.
Zhukovskyy has a troubled driving history, which includes four convictions and two accidents.
His commercial driving license might have been revoked due to a drunken driving arrest in Connecticut two months before the crash, but the request from Connecticut was not processed in Massachusetts. A backlog of such documents had accumulated unprocessed in a room at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Quincy.
Prosecutors at Tuesday's hearing called as witnesses three Littleton firefighters who responded to a fallen tree on Interstate 93, and a driver traveling on Route 2 with a background in commercial trucks.
The firefighters, who were near the Vermont state line, testified they saw a truck hauling a trailer coming close to them before the driver corrected and continued. The Route 2 driver testified that he was heading west when he saw an eastbound truck with a trailer come halfway into his lane before pulling back.
Defense lawyer Steven Mirkin said none of the witnesses could recall the name of the company on the truck or any of its identifying numbers.
The hearing was in Coos County Superior Court.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Firefighters testify at hearing into NH crash that killed 7 bikers
