The widow of a former Haverhill man killed in June’s fiery biker crash in Randolph, N.H. has brought suit against the Massachusetts-based trucking company that hired Volodymyr Zhukovskyy as a driver.
Represented by Charles G. Douglas III, Mary Lou Welch, the wife of Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., filed suit in Strafford Superior Court Aug. 2. In the court filing, Douglas says Welch has “suffered severe emotional distress at seeing and hearing her husband die in a fireball.” Welch is seeking compensatory damages from Zhukovskyy’s employer, Westfield Transport, as well as damages for her emotional distress, according to the court papers obtained by WHAV.
Welch candidly describes the moments before and after the crash that killed her Jarheads Motorcycle Club founder husband and six others. At the time of the crash, Welch and a friend were traveling in a car behind Mazza and his friends to attend a fundraiser. As president of the motorcycle club, Mazza always rode in front, the court papers said.
“As we started to pull onto the road, we heard a big explosion and saw trees on fire and bikes all over the road. When I got to the scene, I tried to run up to where I thought Woody would be and I saw a body trapped under the trailer and was trying to figure out if it was Woody or not Then someone grabbed me and said you cannot go over there,” Welch testified. “I will never forget what I saw and heard that day my husband was killed.”
Pointing out Zhukovskyy’s past driving violations, including two drunken driving arrests, the court filing alleges Westfield Transport “breached its duty of care to the traveling public” when allowing him to get behind the wheel.
Zhukovskyy is said to have admitted he was reaching for a drink at the time of the accident, according to a federal report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. That report, obtained by “The Boston Globe” also alleges the driver was under the influence of a drug—said to be a narcotic or amphetamine—that left him “incapable of driving safely.”
He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of negligent homicide.