The Latest on a deadly collision between a truck and motorcycles in rural New Hampshire (all times local):
8:40 p.m.
The head of the Massachusetts motor vehicle division has resigned for failing to terminate the commercial driving license of man whose collision with a group of motorcyclists in New Hampshire left seven dead.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, on Tuesday plead not guilty to seven counts of negligent homicide and was ordered to remain in preventive detention in New Hampshire, with a judge saying his driving record poses a potential danger to the public and himself.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack said in a statement that the RMV failed to act on information provided by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles about a May 11 incident involving Zhukovskyy that should have cost him his license. As a result, she accepted the resignation of Erin Deveney.
Connecticut prosecutors say Zhukovskyy was arrested May 11 in a Walmart parking lot in East Windsor after failing a sobriety test. Zhukovskyy’s lawyer in that case, John O’Brien, said he denies being intoxicated and will fight the charge.
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11:58 a.m.
A lawyer for a pickup truck driver blamed for causing a collision that killed seven motorcyclists has entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Authorities said Tuesday that 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy waived his arraignment on negligent homicide charges. The plea was entered in Lancaster, New Hampshire.
Zhukovskyy was arrested Monday morning at his home in Massachusetts and handed over to New Hampshire authorities after a court appearance that day.
Investigators say the truck Zhukovskyy was driving was towing a flatbed trailer when it collided with a group of motorcycles Friday on a two-lane highway in Randolph.
Criminal complaints say Zhukovskyy was driving erratically, crossed the center line and collided with the bikes.
Records show Zhukovskyy has been stopped twice on suspicion of drunken driving in the past seven years.
