Survivors of New Hampshire motorcycle crash that killed 7 urge a judge to keep trucker off the road

Days before the five year anniversary After a crash that left seven motorcyclists dead, family members and friends urged New Hampshire officials Wednesday to ban the truck driver involved from the state’s roads.

A jury found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty in 2022 of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide stemming from the June 21, 2019, collision in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, an organization of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses in New England.

An administrative judge from the Ministry of Security said in May that Zhukovskyy is subject to a state law that allows his driver’s license to be suspended for up to seven years. A hearing was held Wednesday to determine the length of the license suspension, a decision expected in the next 15 days.

The state is asking that Zhukovskyy’s license be suspended through 2031. The truck driver’s lawyer wants the suspension to end now by pushing back the start to 2019 and suspending the last two years of the maximum due to good behavior.

Wednesday’s hearing was dominated by witnesses who knew those who died that day or rode with them. They told of the devastation caused by the loss of parents and close friends and demanded that Zhukovskyy not get his driver’s license back. Many cited his history of collisions and driving violations prior to the 2019 crash.

“Someone who has caused so many people so much incredible, terrible pain has the audacity to say, ‘I want my privilege back,’” said Jarheads member David Bark. “It is not a constitutional right to drive an automobile or operate a motor vehicle on a public access road. This is a privilege.”

Dawn Brindley, who was riding with the motorcyclists when the crash occurred, was one of several people who blamed Zhukovskyy for it, despite him being found not guilty. She recalled “seeing bodies on fire and pieces of my friends scattered on the road” and said Zhukovskyy had scarred her forever.

“You don’t deserve to drive any type of vehicle in my state of New Hampshire,” she said. “You don’t deserve to walk around freely while families and loved ones who were victimized that day share the heartbreaking, horrific memories.”

David Hilts, representing the state, argued for the longest possible suspension, citing Zhukovskyy’s history of accidents and driving violations.

“It is clear that the traveling public in New Hampshire would be protected, and should be protected to the greatest extent possible, by suspending Mr. Zhukovskyy’s non-resident operating privilege for as long as the law allows,” Hilts said.

Appearing on video with his lawyer, Zhukovskky expressed his “deepest condolences” to the crash victims and their families and said he had been sober for five years. “I’m not using drugs at the moment. I don’t drink or smoke. You know, I live a good, healthy lifestyle,” he said.

His attorney, Earle Wingate III, insisted that the decision on the length of the suspension would be made “not based on emotions, but rather on the facts.”

Zhukovskyy’s Massachusetts driver’s license was automatically suspended in New Hampshire following his arrest following the crash, but he is trying to get it reinstated.

During his trial, prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy swerved back and forth repeatedly before the collision and told police he caused the crash.

At the time, Zhukovskyy’s driver’s license should have been revoked because he was arrested in Connecticut for driving under the influence in May 2019. Connecticut officials alerted police. Massachusetts Register of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovskyy’s license was not suspended due to a backlog of out-of-state reports of driving violations. The Connecticut case is pending.

Zhukovskyy, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child and had permanent resident status, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the 2022 verdict. a The judge ordered his deportation last year, but the US halted repatriation flights to Ukraine due to the war with Russia and allowed temporary protected status for qualified Ukrainians.