Mountain Home Air Force Base .
Westall, an air traffic control journeyman, was a South Dakota native who began her Air Force career in 2015. She started working at Mountain Home in January 2016.
Trucker had 20 violations — including 2 license suspensions — before fiery I-84 crash
By Katy Moeller
kmoeller@idahostatesman.com
September 09, 2018
A New York long-haul truck driver who investigators say caused a fiery crash on Interstate 84 that killed him and three Mountain Home airmen had a multitude of traffic violations in Oregon, Idaho and other states.
One commercial trucking expert who reviewed Illya D. Tsar’s driving record described it as “amongst the worst I have seen.”
“His record should have been a red flag to anybody who was considering the employment of his services, or the continuation of his employment as a truck driver,” said Paul Herbert, a former trucker who runs the Western Motor Carrier Safety Institute in California.
An investigation by the Statesman into Tsar’s driving record revealed more than 20 driving-related violations in four states — most in Oregon and Idaho — and evidence of more violations in other states.
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Tsar was a contracted driver for Krujex Freight Transport Corp., a small trucking company based near Portland. The company’s rate of driver out-of-service violations — which means the violations were a serious, immediate danger to themselves or others on the road — is three times higher than the national average, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records. Krujex did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
One of Tsar’s most recent charges was misdemeanor driving with a suspended license in Boise. He failed to show up in court on that April 2017 charge, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in January this year.
The 42-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, who lived in Rochester, New York, turned himself into the Ada County Jail on the suspended license warrant on May 10, according to jail records. He was released in less than an hour, a sheriff’s official said.
That was a little more than a month before the fatal crash near the Cloverdale Road overpass in Boise.
Deadly crash
At about 11:30 p.m. June 16, Tsar was driving a 2019 Volvo tractor-trailer east on I-84 at about 62 miles per hour when he slammed into the back of a Jeep Wrangler that was stopped in a line of traffic due to a construction bottleneck, according to a preliminary crash report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The posted speed limit in that section of highway is normally 65 mph, but it was reduced to 55 for the work zone.
Senior Airman Carlos “C.J.” Johnson, 23, of Key West, Florida; Senior Airman Lawrence “Pit” Manlapit III, 26, of Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Senior Airman Karlie A. Westall, 21, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, were all killed.
The Jeep, while still being pushed by the Volvo, then struck the back of a 2003 Volvo truck driven by Roman Zhuk, 35, of Vancouver, Washington. Zhuk’s truck sideswiped a 2006 Ford Fusion driven by Toina M. Jorgensen, 35, of Nampa. Jorgensen and a passenger, Erika L. Medina, 25, of Nampa, were treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
Jorgensen’s Ford rear-ended a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Gerald S. Shumway, 69, of Boise, and sideswiped a 2015 Ford Escape driven by Fernando D. Nitu, 33, of Nampa. Debris from Tsar’s truck struck a 2010 Ford Focus driven by Rachel Colburn, 19, of Boise. The crash caused Tsar’s truck to be engulfed in flames. The fire badly damaged the Cloverdale Road overpass, and the Idaho Transportation Department plans to replace it.
The truck driver’s inattention was likely the cause of the crash, Idaho State Police investigators said in their initial report. Toxicology tests showed that he did not have alcohol or drugs in his system at the time; only caffeine was present, Ada County Coroner Dotti Owens told the Statesman.
Some local motorists felt that signage could have been better for the lane closures in the construction zone where the crash occurred. The ISP investigators’ report did not say whether they believe the construction, or how it was controlled, contributed to the crash.
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Update: Final victim identified in fatal Interstate 84 accident
By Nicole Blanchard
nblanchard@idahostatesman.com
June 20, 2018 12:28 PM
Update: The driver of the commercial truck involved in the fatal crash on Interstate 84 on June 17 has been identified as 42-year-old Illya D. Tsar, of Rochester, New York, the Ada County Coroner's Office said Friday. Tsar's official cause of death was thermal and inhalation injuries due to the crash.
Below is our previous reporting.
Four days after a fiery crash on Interstate 84 that killed four people, Mountain Home Air Force Base officials have identified three of the victims as local airmen.
The victims were identified as Senior Airman Carlos V. Johnson, 23, Senior Airman Lawrence P. Manlapit III, 26, and Senior Airman Karlie A. Westall, 21, according to a press release from the airbase.
Johnson worked in the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron, Manlapit in the 391st Fighter Squadron and Westall in the 366th Operations Support Squadron.
"I am devastated by the loss of our Airmen," said Col. Joe Kunkel, 366th Fighter Wing commander, in the release. "The upcoming weeks will be tough on all of us, but I know the Gunfighter family will pull together to support each other as well as the family and friends impacted by this tragic event."
According to an Idaho State Police press release, the crash occurred around 11:30 p.m. Sunday on eastbound I-84 at milepost 47, near the Cloverdale Road overpass. A semi truck and SUV slowed for construction traffic while eastbound on the interstate. A second commercial truck struck the SUV and semi truck from behind. Four other vehicles were also involved.
Tsar was driving the commercial truck that struck the SUV, ISP confirmed. The SUV was carrying the three airmen.
Johnson, originally from Panama, had worked at Mountain Home Air Force Base since February 2015 as an operations management journeyman.
Senior Airman Carlos V. Johnson (right)Mountain Home Air Force Base
Manlapit was a Bridgeport, Connecticut, native who began his career with the Air Force in 2014. He began working at Mountain Home Air Force Base in January 2015 and served as an avionics systems journeyman.
Senior Airman Lawrence P. Manlapit III, left
Mountain Home Air Force Base
Westall, an air traffic control journeyman, was a South Dakota native who began her Air Force career in 2015. She started working at Mountain Home in January 2016.