At 4:22 a.m. September 9, a deputy from the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to assist a disabled truck, driven by 66 year-old Vladimir Zhukov of Oak Park, Illinois. The truck was stopped in the westbound lane on Interstate 80 near Potter.

While on the way, the deputy learned that another truck, driven by Keith Johnson, 27, from Big Lake, Minnesota, had collided with the first semi. Both vehicles became engulfed in flames. Johnson died in the collision.

Traffic began to back up, leading to a deadly multiple-vehicle accident near the 41 mile marker, also in the westbound lanes.

Four more people died in the series of collisions.

A truck driven by Josef Slezak of Rivergrove, Illinois, smashed into a 2010 Ford Mustang. The force of that collision caused a 2007 Toyota Corolla to be forced underneath a truck stopped in front of it. Four of the reported deaths were the occupants of those two automobiles. The deceased included the drivers of the two vehicles and two juvenile occupants of the Toyota.

An accident reconstruction team and troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol had investigated the accident scenes on Sunday morning. The Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office proceeded with the coroner investigations. Others on scene included the Potter and Sidney Fire Departments, Emergency Response Care of Sidney, the local emergency management director, Attorney Paul Schaub and Deputy Jon Stellar.

The Nebraska State Patrol handed over much of the investigation to Cheyenne County sheriff’s deputies after the initial reconstruction.

Autopsies have been ordered on all of the deceased.

Slezak was arrested on four counts of Manslaughter and remains confined in the Cheyenne County Jail.