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Volodymyr Zhukovskyy returns to the gallery before the start of closing statements in his trial in Coos County Superior Court in Lancaster, New Hampshire, Tuesday, August 9, 2022. David Lane/union leader via AP
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire safety officials on Thursday confirmed the suspension of the license of a commercial truck driver who was acquitted in the deaths of seven motorcyclists in 2019, but said another hearing would take place to determine the duration of the suspension.
In 2022, a jury found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty of multiple counts of manslaughter and negligent homicide stemming from the June 21, 2019, collision in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a veterans’ organization of the Marine Corps and their spouses in New England.
Zhukovsky’s license in Massachusetts was automatically suspended in New Hampshire after his arrest following the crash, but he sought to have it reinstated at a hearing earlier this month.
In an order issued Thursday, a Department of Security administrative judge said Zhukovsky was subject to a state law allowing his license to be suspended for up to seven years and that a dispositional hearing would be scheduled later.
“The evidence clearly supports the conclusion that the Respondent operated his truck and trailer in a negligent manner, which was unlawful and caused or significantly contributed to the accident,” Ryan McFarland wrote.
At his trial, prosecutors argued that Zhukovsky — who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine on the day of the crash — had swerved several times before the collision and told the police that he was the cause. But a judge threw out eight DUI charges and his lawyers said the lead motorcyclist was drunk and not looking where he was going when he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Zhukovsky’s truck, which was pulling an empty flatbed trailer.
Zhukovsky’s lawyers also said there was no evidence he was intoxicated at the time of the crash and that police made no observations in the hours afterward suggesting that he was.
At the time, Zhukovsky’s license should have been revoked because he was arrested in Connecticut for drunk driving in May 2019. Connecticut authorities alerted the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovsky’s license Zhukovsky was not suspended due to a backlog of applications. state notifications regarding traffic violations. The Connecticut case is ongoing.
Zhukovsky, who came to the United States as a child from Ukraine and had permanent resident status, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the 2022 verdict. A judge said ordered his deportation last year, but the United States suspended repatriation flights to Ukraine because of the war with Russia and allowed temporary protected status for qualified Ukrainians.
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