Court records shed light on the crash Wednesday that killed a Pennsylvania State Police trooper.
Michael Bon, 33, is charged with homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter.
According to the criminal complaint, Bon was driving a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County when he rear-ended another tractor-trailer.
The second vehicle was being inspected by Trooper Michael Pahira Jr., who became pinned underneath. Both vehicles then caught fire.
Nearby construction workers pulled Pahira out, and he was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Pahira served in the state police for nearly 20 years.
The Pennsylvania State Police Troopers Association President Stephen Polishan issued a statement on the matter Sunday.
The association claims that, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Bon was in the U.S. illegally after his humanitarian parole was terminated in 2025,
“This is not about politics. This is about right versus wrong,” PSTA President Stephen Polishan stated. “Trooper Pahira was a hero, and his family, fellow troopers and the public deserve answers. They need to know why the person accused of this senseless killing, who was in the United States illegally, had been granted a commercial driver’s license in Massachusetts. This individual should never have been driving such a dangerous vehicle on our highways. But he was, and now a good man is dead. Trooper Pahira should be alive today.”
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