Survivors of the accident that killed seven people want the truck driver to be kept off the road

Relatives and friends of seven motorcyclists who died in a crash in 2019 called on New Hampshire authorities on Wednesday to ban the truck driver from returning to the state’s roads.

A jury found Volodymyr Zhukovsky acquitted in 2022 of multiple murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with 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.

At that point, Zhukovskyy’s license should have been suspended because he had been arrested for drunk driving in Connecticut in May 2019. Connecticut authorities notified the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, but Zhukovskyy’s license was not suspended because there was a backlog of traffic violation reports from other states. The Connecticut case is still pending.

An administrative judge with the Ministry of Security said in May that Zhukovskyy violated a state law that allows for a suspension of his driver’s license for up to seven years. Wednesday’s hearing was expected to determine the length of the suspension; a decision is expected in the next 15 days.

The hearing, held two days before the fifth anniversary of the fatal crash, was dominated by witnesses who knew the deceased or had driven with them that day. They described the devastation caused by the loss of parents and good friends and called for Zhukovskyy not to get his driver’s license back. Many pointed to his history of collisions and traffic violations leading up to the 2019 crash.

“Someone who has caused so many people such incredible, horrific pain has the audacity to say, ‘I want my privilege back,'” David Bark, a member of the Jarheads, said at the hearing. “It’s not a constitutional right to drive a car, to operate a motor vehicle on a public road. That’s a privilege.”

Manny Ribeiro, president of the Jarheads at the time of the accident, said his life had been “dramatically changed” by the accident and noted that his wife would never get on a motorcycle again.

“He is a danger to everyone on the street,” Ribeiro said.

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

“It is clear that the traveling public in New Hampshire would be protected and must be protected to the fullest extent possible by suspending Mr. Zhukovskyy’s nonresident operating license for as long as the law allows,” Hilts said.

Zhukovskky, who appeared by video with his lawyer, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the victims of the accident and their families and said he has been sober for five years. “I’m not doing drugs at this time. I don’t drink or smoke. You know, I lead a good, healthy lifestyle,” he said.

His lawyer, Earle Wingate III, insisted that the decision on the length of the ban should be based “not on emotions but on facts.”

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

At his trial, prosecutors argued that Zhukovsky swerved repeatedly before the collision and told police he caused the collision.

Zhukovskyy, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child and had permanent residency, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the 2022 ruling. A judge ordered his deportation last year, but the U.S. has suspended repatriation flights to Ukraine because of the war with Russia and granted temporary protected status to qualified Ukrainians.