SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA — More than 50 people packed a Schuylkill County courtroom Wednesday for a two-hour preliminary hearing for Michael Bon, 33, the tractor-trailer driver charged with killing Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr., 44, during a fiery chain reaction crash on Interstate 81 in July.
Bon faces charges of vehicular homicide, aggravated assault by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person, involuntary manslaughter, and related offenses. His charges will proceed to trial.
What Happened
Around 7 a.m. on July 1, Pahira was conducting a routine inspection of a Peterbilt tractor-trailer on the shoulder of I-81 between mile markers 119.2 and 119.3 when Bon’s truck drifted out of its lane, struck the passenger mirror of Pahira’s car, then the rear of the inspected trailer, hitting and dragging Pahira under the truck. The impact broke the seat of the inspected truck’s driver, Walter Reynoso, who had been stopped on the shoulder for approximately 40 minutes. Reynoso’s dashcam captured the moments before impact — Pahira could be heard talking to Reynoso, then a collision.
Bon’s truck caught fire. Another truck driver, Maurice Foster, saw an explosion and black smoke from about a mile away, pulled over, called 911, and saw Pahira pinned under the front bumper of the burning truck. He watched Bon jump from the cab without shoes, go back in to get his boots, then attempt unsuccessfully to free Pahira.
“He looked like he just woke up,” Foster said of Bon.
Three nearby construction workers saw the smoke and ran toward the scene. Michael Adams and Jamie Cameron climbed over a PennDOT fence to reach Pahira. Adams told Pahira the truck was on fire and he needed to pull him out. Pahira said only “legs” and pointed toward the grass. Adams tried to pull him free but was driven back twice by explosions.
“I told him I wasn’t going to stay there and watch him burn,” Adams said, choking up on the witness stand.
On the third attempt, Adams and Cameron pulled Pahira from under the truck. Trooper William Moyer arrived and began CPR. Pahira died in the hospital from multiple blunt force trauma. His death was ruled a homicide.
The Evidence
Crash reconstructionist Trooper Benjamin Scott testified the damage on Reynoso’s trailer indicated Bon’s trailer was at least 27 inches outside its lane. He said Bon had between 49 and 72 seconds to see Pahira’s stopped vehicle and move to the other lane as required by state law.
Police said Bon had 1.7 nanograms per milliliter of THC in his bloodstream, though he is not charged with DUI. Research shows THC blood levels below five nanograms per milliliter are not clearly associated with driving impairment, and Bon’s defense attorney John Waldron was quick to note the DUI charge absence.
The Defense
Waldron raised the possibility that a medical event caused the crash. A document from Haiti, translated into English, indicates Bon has epilepsy. Bon told police he had one seizure between 2017 and 2018 while in Haiti. Waldron questioned why state police did not speak with Bon’s physician in Haiti. On his CDL application, Bon checked a box stating he did not have epilepsy — though the Commonwealth was unable to introduce that document as evidence at this hearing.
Immigration
Bon lives in Brockton, Massachusetts and is a Haitian refugee. He had been denied temporary protective status and was not in the United States legally at the time of the crash. His immigration status drew national attention in the aftermath of Pahira’s death, with President Trump pledging a federal crackdown on foreign truck drivers without legal status.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Interviews courtesy of local media.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
