The man who was behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer that struck and killed a Pa. State Police trooper in a crash in Schuylkill County on Wednesday has been charged with homicide and other crimes. On Thursday, officials announced Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Mass., with homicide by vehicle, in voluntary manslaughter, reckless driving and related offenses after Pennsylvania State Police trooper Michael E. Pahira, Jr., was killed on Wednesday morning when he was struck while doing a vehicle safety inspection along Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County. According to police, the 44-year-old Pahira died after a tractor-trailer driven by Bon struck the trooper as he was conducting a safety inspection of a commercial vehicle along the southbound side of I-81 near mile marker 119.3 in Cass Township. Court documents obtained by NBC10 show that Bon’s vehicle veered off the roadway and onto the right shoulder, where Pahira was inspecting a different tractor-trailer, striking the side of Pahira’s police vehicle before continuing to hit the tractor-trailer that Pahira was inspecting, trapping the trooper under the front bumper of Bon’s truck. Immediately after the crash, court documents note, Bon’s truck burst into flames, engulfing the the truck and trailer in fire. Court documents note that three witnesses at the scene rushed to the trooper’s aid, pulling him from under the vehicle and dragging him about 30 yards where first responders were able to get to Pahira. Also, court documents claim that both Pahira’s vehicle and the tractor-trailer that he was conducting a safety inspection on were both parked safely out of the roadway and Bon’s tractor-trailer needed to exit a lane of travel in order to come into contact with those vehicles. Officials said Pahira, Jr. was a nearly 20-year veteran of the force and was the 106th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to die in the line of duty. Bon is in police custody as he awaits a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 16, 2026. ...read more read less