RANDOLPH, N.H. — A court affidavit reveals several witnesses say they saw 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy weaving and crossing the centerline at least twice before plowing into a group of motorcycles, killing seven people on June 21, in Randolph, New Hampshire.
Zhukovskyy was driving a 2016 Dodge Ram, pulling a trailer, when his pickup crossed the center, double-yellow line on Route 2 and plowed into a group of 15 motorcyclists. Seven motorcycle riders were killed and two others were injured.
According to the affidavit, New Hampshire State Trooper Neil Chapdelaine was first to the scene around 6:30 p.m. and said the truck Zhukovskyy had been driving was engulfed in flames as motorcycles, riders, and debris were scattered on the roadway.
A group of 15 riders had been heading east on U.S. Highway 23 when Zhukovskyy hit them.
Zhukovskyy initially told police, just hours after the accident, that he reached down to get something when the crash happened.
Stephen Piwowarski and his wife Annie Baron were driving behind Zhukovskyy and told police they witnessed the truck and trailer weaving and driving into the shoulder in the town of Gorham, New Hampshire. Piwowarski told police the truck and trailer veered into the on-coming lane of traffic twice before the crash. Piwowarski told his wife the truck driver was driving erratically and he was going to put more distance between their car and the truck.
Baron told police the half of the truck veered into the oncoming lane the first time and then 75% of the truck was over the double yellow line.
According to the Associated Press, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the drug for which Zhukovskyy tested positive was "unspecified," but it made him "incapable of driving safely" when his truck crossed the center line and hit the motorcyclists in Randolph.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the drug was either an amphetamine or a narcotic.
The affidavit also revealed Zhukovskyy was cited in Iowa on Feb. 18, 2019, for not staying in one lane, and driving while using additional equipment while driving a commercial vehicle. Zhukovskyy admitted to using an amusement device while driving.
Jury selection for the trial is expected to begin on Nov. 8.
