An Uzbekistan truck driver who could not speak English is under investigation for causing a deadly Ohio crash that killed a 21-year-old college student and UMass soccer goalie.
Bekhzod Asrarov, 42, needed Google Translate to speak with Ohio State Highway Patrol at the scene of the crash in Madison County, Ohio. He also removed the vehicle’s dash camera by ripping it off and smashing it, authorities said.
The crash remains under investigation after Asrarov’s tractor-trailer rammed into the back of a 2025 Honda Accord on Interstate 71. The collision killed Tobias “Toby” Forsythe, 21, who played soccer for the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
BREAKING: DOT confirms to us that the truck driver who allegedly kiIIed 21-year-old UMass goalie and rising soccer star Tobias Forsythe, FAILED AN ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TEST.
The driver was Uzbek national Bekhzod Asrarov.
DOT tells me he FAILED an English language proficiency… pic.twitter.com/dMF2wXBz89
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 7, 2026
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Monday to discuss the concerning trend of traffic fatalities involving immigrant truckers, including one that killed a Pennsylvania State Trooper earlier this month.
Duffy has expressed his ongoing frustration with states that issue commercial licenses to foreign truckers who cannot speak English, calling them a danger to innocent drivers such as Forsythe.
“We cannot let truckers like Asrarov, who can’t read our road signs or speak to law enforcement, drive 80,000-pound rigs on America’s highways,” Duffy wrote on X.
Tobias "Toby" Forsythe was just 21, a star goalie for the UMass Lowell soccer team with his whole life ahead of him. On Sunday, his life was stolen.
A massive semi-truck driven by Bekhzod Asrarov rammed the back of Toby’s car on I-71 in Madison County, Ohio, killing him… pic.twitter.com/diNqfujrRc
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 7, 2026
Asrarov was charged with falsification after investigators said he removed the dash camera from his truck after the crash. He made his first court appearance on Friday and was released on bond with an ankle monitor, according to ABC 6 News.
Madison County prosecutors said more charges could be filed once crash reconstruction and toxicology reports are complete. He used an interpreter during his July 10 hearing with his wife and family in the courtroom, ABC 6 reported.
Defense counsel waived the right to a preliminary hearing and the case will be bound over for grand jury consideration, NBC 4 News reported.
According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Asrarov was operating a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia when he struck the back of the Honda driven by Forsythe around 1:30 a.m. July 5.
The impact pushed the Honda through the median cable barrier before coming to a stop in the northbound lanes. First responders pronounced Forsythe dead at the scene.
Forsythe, a native of Gahanna, Ohio, was a goalie for the UMass soccer team and an economics major, Fox News Digital reported. He recently transferred to UMass Lowell to join the River Hawks’ soccer team, which has yet to begin its fall season.
He also played two seasons at Ashland University before transferring to Shawnee State, where he started all 17 games in 2025, Fox reported.
Asrarov came to the country in 2024 via the diversity visa lottery program. He was admitted by the Biden administration and obtained a commercial driver’s license from Ohio.
However, his actions following the crash and commercial driving credentials are now under scrutiny. Officers who responded to the scene said Asrarov spoke no English, and he allegedly ripped off the truck’s dash camera before authorities arrived.
According to police reports, a Madison County deputy confiscated five total devices, including three cell phones, a tablet and the dash cam, which was found in Asrarov’s pocket, NBC 4 reported.
Under federal regulations, truck drivers are required to pass an English language proficiency test to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
Trucking industry experts say “CDL mills” are part of the problem, particularly in Ohio.
Darren Grose, a longtime truck driver and CDL trainer, told ABC 6 the industry has extensive problems. He said he has personally seen drivers offered CDL tests in languages other than English.
State Senator Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, said in a statement “news of a non-English speaking CDL driver hitting and killing an Ohio citizen is alarming to hear.”
Schaffer, who also serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said drivers who cannot understand English may struggle to read road signs or communicate with law enforcement during an emergency.
“We should make sure we are doing better than other states,” he said, per ABC 6. “When we issue a CDL, we want to know that person understands how to safely drive these large trucks. We also need to make sure the testing is legitimate.”
A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson said Duffy has spent the last year in office “reining in a trucking industry allowed to operate like the Wild West under Biden and Buttigieg.”
The DOT launched a nationwide investigation into states that issue nondomiciled CDLs to immigrants and has defended recent changes to commercial licenses and other trucking regulations.
The DOT issued a final rule in March restricting foreigners who can obtain a commercial license in an effort to prevent unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers from getting behind the wheel of semi-trucks and buses.
Duffy also has pulled federal highway funding from states that refuse to revoke illegally issued CDLs. In response, several states have sued to block the DOT from enforcing the rules and ignored requests to cancel licenses that don’t meet the new rules.
On Monday, Duffy spoke about the recent crashes and the death of Pennsylvania trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr., who was conducting a commercial vehicle inspection when he was struck and killed on July 1.
“I changed the rules to STOP illegal immigrants who don’t speak English from driving big rigs,” Duffy shared on social media with the “America’s Newsroom” clip. He noted he cannot force states to revoke the illegal licenses.
I changed the rules to STOP illegal immigrants who don’t speak English from driving big rigs.
But Massachusetts is trying to block @USDOT and @FMCSA from enforcing the rules — both in and out of court.
If radical leftists hadn’t sued, the illegal truck driver wouldn’t have had… pic.twitter.com/RfZrdcIB4V
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 13, 2026
In that crash, the driver, Haitian national Michael Bon, had his Biden-approved parole terminated in June 2025 but remained in the U.S. and continued to drive an 18-wheeler. Bon faces 10 criminal charges, including homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault by vehicle.
“If radical leftists hadn’t sued, the illegal truck driver wouldn’t have had a commercial driver’s license, and Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira would still be alive,” Duffy said. “This is about safety of the American people on our roads. The rules are clear. States can pull illegal non-domiciled CDLs. And they should.”
