The truck driver who allegedly struck and killed a Schuylkill County state trooper on Wednesday was in the country illegally after refusing to return to Haiti despite being told to do so by the federal government.

Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Massachusetts, was driving his rig southbound on 1-81 in Cass Township about 7 a.m. when he veered off the road and struck Frackville State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr. as he stood next to another tractor trailer that was pulled off the road for inspection near mile marker 119.

Pahira, 44, was caught under the bumper of the cab of Bon’s rig, which quickly became engulfed in flames.

Three construction workers who were nearby rushed to the crash and pulled Pahira out. However, he died hours later without regaining consciousness.

Bon was charged by state police at Hamburg with vehicular homicide and other crimes. He remains in Schuylkill County prison under $700,000 bail.

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday responded to questions asked by the Times News, giving this timeline:

• Michael Bon is a 33-year-old illegal alien from Haiti.

• On July 2, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Bon into the United States at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as a parolee.

•On Oct. 26, 2024, Bon filed an application for Temporary Protected Status with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services agency under the Biden administration. TPS was never granted.

•On June 13, 2025, USCIS issued Bon a Notice of Termination of Parole.

•Despite his parole being terminated, Bon refused to leave the country and remained in the United States illegally.

•On July 1, Pennsylvania State Police arrested Bon and charged him with homicide by vehicle and related charges.

•On July 2, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Bon.

•The state of Massachusetts issued Bon his Commercial Driver’s License.

State police at Hamburg noted that Pahira’s marked state police inspection pickup, emergency lights flashing, was parked behind the rig he was inspecting.

The arrest document states that Bon was driving at a high rate of speed when he left the roadway and hit the driver’s side mirror of the pickup, then rammed the back of the parked truck before striking Trooper Pahira.

Bon, according to witnesses, told the rescuers to “leave him” because the truck was burning and it or the tires might explode from the heat.

In addition to the homicide charge, Bon is also charged with with aggravated assault by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person, involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, careless driving - unintentional death, duty of drivers in relation in relation to emergency response area, driving on roadways lanes for traffic - prohibitions against changing lanes, and obedience to traffic control device, for disregarding Pahira’s marked pickup’s flashing emergency lights.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. July 16 before District Judge Lengel, Tremont.