Turnpike Worker Doing Asphalt Work Struck, Killed
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on April 16, 2025
FROM THE WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE
An employee of the West Virginia Turnpike was struck and killed shortly at about 10:46 a.m. Monday, April 14, 2025, while doing asphalt work on the Turnpike.
The worker was struck by a tractor-trailer at mile marker 92.5 southbound on Interstate 77. The section of highway is part of the West Virginia Turnpike.
A Turnpike work crew was patching the center section of the Turnpike with the right lane closed when the accident occurred. The driver of the tractor-trailer swerved to avoid the work zone, but the trailer swung into the work zone and struck the victim.
The driver of the tractor-trailer stopped and is cooperating with authorities. West Virginia State Police are investigating and reviewing video footage from an onboard camera on the tractor-trailer.
Southbound in a marked work zone. Responding and assisting units encountered and identified the driver of the commercial vehicle to be Anvar Sabirov, 28-year-old male from Rego Park, NY, at the scene. Troopers also spoke to witnesses on scene who stated the suspect was observed entering the work zone with his head down traveling South approaching the victim.
The victim being James Harper, 23-year-old male from Beckley, WV, was working on filling a pothole in the pavement. Harper was struck and killed by the commercial vehicle. After the investigation, Sabirov was taken into custody and charged with Vehicular Manslaughter.
This incident is still under investigation.
On Tuesday, a statement from from West Virginia Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh, P.E., on the incident was released.
"Today, we are forced to cope with another fatality in a work zone, this one being a young Parkways employee working on a West Virginia Turnpike project. While the details are still being sorted out, we do know the vast majority of work zone tragedies are preventable. Work zone safety isn't coming up with a clever phrase and wearing orange for the month of April every year. It is a year-round mindset, a habit, and an attitude, and it is non-negotiable! We mourn the loss of an employee, and extend our condolences to his family. As temperatures warm and road construction begins in earnest, we continue to stress how important it is to slow down and stay alert in work zones and allow an employee to go home to their family," said Rumbaugh.
