The 23-year old man facing seven counts of negligent homicide for his role in a devastating crash in Randolph last week entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege that Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy was driving “erratically” when his 2016 Dodge 2500 pick-up truck that was towing a trailer crossed the double-yellow line on Route 2 in the tiny New Hampshire town north of the White Mountains.
Zhukovskyy struck a group of motorcycles traveling in the eastbound lane, killing seven people and injuring three others. The bikers were all members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, which is made up of military veterans and their supporters.
Zhukovskyy was arrested Monday morning at his family’s home in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Each negligent homicide charge carries up to seven years in prison.
The defendant is being held without bail at the Coos County House of Corrections. A jury trial is scheduled for November.
Federal officials from the National Transportation Safety Board continue to look into the circumstances of the crash, which took place Friday evening.
Four of the bikers killed were New Hampshire residents. Two people from Massachusetts along with a rider from Rhode Island also died.
(An earlier version of this story misidentified the location of the crash. It was in Randolph, not Raymond.)
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