Survivor of deadly Randolph crash: 'It'll always feel like yesterday'
Dawn Brindley recalls horrific experience
Dawn Brindley recalls horrific experience
Dawn Brindley recalls horrific experience
A survivor of a devastating crash on Route 2 in Randolph earlier this year is opening up about her experience and how she’s coping nearly five months later.
On June 21, a pickup truck with a trailer in tow plowed into a group of Marine Corps veterans on their way to an event at a nearby American Legion.
Five members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club and two spouses were killed in what has been described as one of the deadliest traffic crashes in state history.
Several others, including Dawn Brindley, were injured.
"It'll always feel like yesterday," Brindley said. "I mean I still, and I'm sure some of the members still have thoughts or nightmares of that wonderful, horrible day that we had, seeing our brothers and their spouses get killed right in front of our eyes.”
Brindley’s physical scars have somewhat healed, but she said the emotional ones run deep.
"I think as a whole, everybody is doing OK. I think it's day by day. When we see each other, it's good for us. It's a healing process because we have a lot of support with each other,” Brindley said.
According to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, the driver of the pickup truck was Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, of West Springfield, Massachusetts.
>> Timeline paints picture of Zukovskky's driving history
Days after the crash, he was charged with seven counts of negligent homicide and has been held behind bars ever since.
A federal report obtained by News 9 Investigates earlier this year showed Zhukovskyy was under the influence of an unspecified drug at the time of the crash.
In October, 16 additional charges were brought against him. This month, he waived his arraignment on those charges.
Weeks before the Route 2 crash, he was arrested on an operating under the influence charge in Connecticut.
An independent audit of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles showed that, because of the May 11 charge in Connecticut, Zhukovskyy should not have had an active Massachusetts driver’s license after that point.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, he refused a chemical test, which, under existing procedures, should have led to the suspension of his driver's licenses in Massachusetts, but that never happened because of a backlog at the RMV -- something Brindley said is hard to stomach.
"Shame on the state of Massachusetts, I think. I have a (commercial driver’s license). We're held to high standards. He shouldn't have been on the road, but things slip through the cracks. I just want him to be accountable for what he did," Brindley said.
The next court date for Zhukovskyy has not been set.
