An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison. Cooper also sentenced Robertson to three years of supervised release after his prison term. Federal prosecutors had recommended an eight-year prison ..read more

Millions of veterans are now eligible for expanded health care access and disability benefits related to burn pit smoke and other toxic exposures after President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday comprehensive new veterans legislation. In a White House ceremony, Biden called the legislation one of the most important changes to veteran support policies in decades, and said it will provide needed relief to individuals who are still suffering the wounds of war years after leaving the battlefield. “This is the most significant law our nation has ever passed to help millions of veterans who were ..read more

CONCORD, N.H. — A jury on Tuesday acquitted a commercial truck driver of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in a horrific head-on collision in northern New Hampshire that exposed fatal flaws in the processing of license revocations across states. Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was found innocent on seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph. Jailed since the crash, he appeared to wipe away tears as the verdict was read and briefly raised his inde ..read more

CONCORD, N.H. — A 2019 collision that killed seven members of a Marine motorcycle club would’ve happened even if the truck was in the middle of its lane because the lead biker was “headed in that direction,” a crash reconstruction expert said Monday on the final day of testimony in the truck driver’s trial. Closing arguments are set for Tuesday in the trial of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, who faces negligent homicide, manslaughter and reckless conduct charges in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph, New Hampshire. Prosecutors have argued that Zhukovskyy, who had taken heroin, fent ..read more

Police body camera footage showing the controversial October 2021 arrest of a homeless veteran in Gastonia, N.C., was released July 27, detailing the moments before the veteran was arrested and his service animal tased, ultimately leading to the dog’s death by a car. Joshua Graham Rohrer, a Kentucky Army National Guard veteran who deployed to Kuwait and Iraq between 2004 and 2005, was with his 2-year-old Belgian Malinois service dog Sunshine Rae on Oct. 13 when he was approached by police officers responding to a 911 call regarding his panhandling, which is a crime in North Carolina. What foll ..read more

CONCORD, N.H. — A survivor of a crash that killed seven fellow members of a Marine motorcycle club acknowledged Wednesday that the lead rider had an unsafe blood alcohol level but denied that the club president swerved into the path of the oncoming truck. Josh Morin was the final witness for the prosecution, which has rested in the trial of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, the truck driver charged in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph, New Hampshire. A judge dismissed eight charges Wednesday related to whether Zhukovskyy was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time ..read more

CONCORD, N.H. — A substance made when the body breaks down heroin was present a truck driver’s blood just hours after he was involved in a 2019 crash that killed seven motorcyclists, a forensic toxicologist testified Monday. The metabolite, referred to as “6-MAM,” is unique to heroin and was found in the driver’s blood below “below the reporting limit,” the concentration of substances that can be measured accurately, said Donna Papsun of Pennsylvania-based NMS Labs. She had been asked to do additional testing by the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory. Papsun’s testimony i ..read more

CONCORD, N.H. — The last rider in a group of Marine motorcycle club members testified July 27 that he saw a “ball of flame” and then a truck “plowing through motorcycles like a bowling ball” in a 2019 crash in New Hampshire that killed seven bikers. Michael McEachern testified in the trial of the truck driver, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy. He said he saw the westbound truck, which was pulling a flatbed trailer, hit some of the eastbound riders shortly after the group left a motel to head to an American Legion post for a meeting that June 21. He said he tried to help them, but he saw that som ..read more

GREEN HILL, N.C. — DNA, dental and other analyses have confirmed the identity of remains buried in Belgium as a 27-year-old World War II soldier from North Carolina who died during battle in a German forest. The Charlotte Observer reports that officials with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release Friday that Army Pfc. David Owens, of Green Hill in Watauga County, died while his unit battled German forces in a forest near Hürtgen, Germany. Owens was among the first soldiers to land on the French coast on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when Allied troops invaded Nazi-occupi ..read more

The veterans unemployment rate settled at 2.7% for the third consecutive month in July, extending positive news about the veterans job market to its best streak in 22 years, according to the federal researchers. In its monthly employment estimates released Friday, officials from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said about 237,000 veterans were unable to find work last month. That’s roughly the same level as May and June, and down from around 350,000 one year ago. July was the fifth consecutive month that the veterans unemployment level was under 3%, the longest such streak since at least the sta ..read more