Trucking news and briefs for Monday, June 1, 2020:
Trucker arrested after driving into crowd of protesters in Minnesota
An independent contractor for Kenan Advantage Group was arrested Sunday night after driving into a crowd of protesters along I-35W in Minneapolis.
Police identified the trucker as 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko, who drove into the crowd and was then pulled out of his truck and injured by protesters. He was treated at a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, then arrested on probable cause of assault. He is being held at the Hennepin County Jail.
Minnesota DPS officials said there were no reports of protesters injured in the incident. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Monday in a press conference that authorities had closed the highway, but it was closed in sections and Vechirko had been on I-35W before that section of the interstate was closed. He added that Vechirko said a group of protesters stepped in to protect him until police arrived at the scene. It’s unclear if Vechirko will still face charges.
Kenan Advantage Group confirmed in a statement that Vechirko was an independent contractor for the company and that they are cooperating with the investigation.
“Our hearts go out to all those who are grieving the events of this past week,” said Patricia Harcourt, vice president of corporate communications for KAG. “We have been informed of an incident involving one of our independent contractors in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during recent protests. Our first and foremost concern is for the safety and security of the public, our employees and our customers. We will be cooperating fully with the investigating authorities in the days ahead. It would be inappropriate to comment at this time until we have additional facts as the investigation is in its early stages. We will comment further once we have more information.”
According to a tweet from the Minnesota DOT, I-35 was originally set to close at 8 p.m. Sunday night, but it was announced at 4:38 p.m. that the closure had been moved up to 5 p.m. The incident with Vechirko occurred around 5:40 p.m., after the interstate had been closed.
