POTTSVILLE, Pa. , The family of Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr., who was killed while conducting a commercial vehicle inspection along Interstate 81 in July, has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the truck driver accused in the crash, the motor carrier operating the tractor-trailer and the freight broker that allegedly selected the carrier for the load.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Pahira’s mother, Patricia Pahira, individually and as administrator of his estate. The defendants are driver Michael Bon, Alabama-based Augustin Freight Services LLC and Texas-based SNK Logistics LLC.
Michael Bon, the Haitian truck driver facing criminal charges in connection with the July 1, 2026 Interstate 81 crash that killed Pennsylvania State Police Motor Carrier Inspector Michael E. Pahira Jr. Bon is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The lawsuit substantially expands the legal battle surrounding Pahira’s death beyond the driver himself, alleging the trucking company failed in its driver qualification and supervision responsibilities and accusing the freight broker of negligently selecting the carrier.
Those claims are allegations in a newly filed civil case. No court has determined that Augustin Freight Services, SNK Logistics or Bon is civilly liable.
Trooper Was Conducting a Commercial Vehicle Inspection
Pahira was killed July 1 while working as a Motor Carrier Inspector with the Pennsylvania State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit.
Pennsylvania State Police said Pahira was conducting an inspection of a commercial motor vehicle on the shoulder of I-81 South near mile marker 119 in Schuylkill County. His marked patrol vehicle was positioned directly behind the truck being inspected with its emergency lights activated.
According to PSP, a second commercial vehicle traveling south left the roadway, struck the side-view mirror of Pahira’s patrol vehicle, then hit the rear of the commercial vehicle being inspected before striking Pahira. Both commercial vehicles caught fire following the collision. Pahira was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Pahira had served with Pennsylvania State Police since January 2007 and had worked as a Motor Carrier Inspector at Troop L, Frackville, since 2016. PSP identified him as the 106th member of the department to die in the line of duty.
Bon now faces homicide-by-vehicle and other criminal charges stemming from the crash. That criminal prosecution remains pending, and the charges have not resulted in a conviction.
Lawsuit Targets Four-Truck Alabama Carrier
The newly filed civil case alleges that Bon was operating a tractor-trailer for Augustin Freight Services when the fatal crash occurred.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records independently confirm that Augustin Freight Services, USDOT 4162522, is an interstate, authorized-for-hire carrier headquartered in Albertville, Alabama. As of FMCSA’s July 31 data snapshot, the company reported four power units and four drivers.
The lawsuit accuses Augustin Freight Services of negligence and recklessness involving Bon’s hiring, qualification, training, supervision and retention.
The complaint also alleges the carrier had accumulated a 40 percent vehicle out-of-service rate before the crash, along with unsafe-driving and maintenance violations. That 40 percent figure is an allegation cited in the plaintiffs’ filing and announcement, not a federal safety rating or a judicial finding.
That distinction matters because FMCSA specifically warns that Safety Measurement System data should not, by itself, be interpreted as a carrier’s overall safety rating. Unless a carrier has received an Unsatisfactory safety rating or has otherwise been ordered out of service, SMS performance data does not mean FMCSA has declared the carrier unsafe to operate.
Freight Broker Accused of Negligent Carrier Selection
The lawsuit also brings SNK Logistics into the case.
According to the complaint, SNK Logistics brokered the freight being transported by Bon when the crash occurred. The family alleges the broker knew or should have known about information in Augustin Freight Services’ publicly accessible carrier-safety record before selecting the company to transport the load.
That allegation could make the freight-broker portion of the litigation particularly significant to the trucking industry because the lawsuit is not simply attempting to hold the motor carrier responsible for its own driver. It seeks to impose liability farther up the freight-selection chain.
The plaintiffs allege SNK negligently selected Augustin Freight Services and failed to adequately investigate the carrier before tendering the load.
SNK has not been found liable for negligent selection, and the filing of the complaint does not establish that the broker had a legal duty to reject Augustin Freight Services based on the information cited by the plaintiffs.
That issue will have to be litigated.
Attorneys John Morgan and Clancy Boylan, who announced the lawsuit, said Pahira was a public servant who had dedicated his career to roadway safety. They said the case raises broader questions about whether driver-qualification requirements and carrier-vetting procedures are actually being enforced.
“When companies prioritize profits over people, those decisions can lead to fatal consequences,” the attorneys said. That statement represents the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ position in the litigation and is not a court finding.
Driver Was Already at Center of CDL Controversy
Bon’s case had already received national attention before Wednesday’s lawsuit because he held a Massachusetts commercial driver’s license and because of questions surrounding his immigration status and eligibility to operate commercially.
WVIA previously reported that Bon had applied for Temporary Protected Status in October 2024 but was never granted TPS, and that federal authorities later said his immigration parole was terminated in June 2025. Massachusetts officials told WVIA that Bon was legally eligible for a CDL when he initially applied in March 2025 because federal records at that time showed him authorized to work in the United States.
The circumstances surrounding his licensing subsequently became part of the wider national debate over non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, an issue that has since prompted emergency FMCSA action, federal-state litigation and intensified scrutiny from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Department of Homeland Security.
None of those broader policy disputes establish what caused the July 1 crash or determine whether any of the defendants named in Wednesday’s lawsuit are liable.
The crash investigation, criminal prosecution and newly filed federal civil lawsuit remain separate legal matters.
Lawsuit Seeks Wrongful-Death and Punitive Damages
The 23-page civil complaint includes negligence and recklessness claims, wrongful-death and survival claims and allegations involving negligent hiring, supervision, retention and carrier selection. The family is seeking damages exceeding $150,000 and has requested a jury trial, according to reporting on the filed complaint.
The filing comes almost exactly two months after Pahira was killed while performing the very type of roadside commercial-vehicle safety enforcement now at the center of the lawsuit.
The confirmed development is that responsibility for the crash is now being litigated on two fronts: prosecutors are pursuing the driver in state criminal court, while Pahira’s family is asking a federal court to examine not only the driver’s conduct, but also the decisions made by the motor carrier that employed him and the freight broker that allegedly selected that carrier.
