Driver In Fatal Rollover Had DUI In 2012

Zachary Thole already had one driving while intoxicated conviction when he allegedly crashed his truck on Hillsdale Road in Richmond Friday night, killing passenger Nicholas Gershkoff and injuring a second passenger.

On Monday Thole, of Richmond, was released on $10,000 cash bail (from $100,000 surety bail) from District Court in Wakefield. Under the conditions of his bail, Thole is not allowed to drive or drink alcohol and he must receive alcohol-abuse counseling and appropriate treatment. He was given a curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and must check in daily with the court.

On Aug. 2, 2012, Thole was convicted of driving while intoxicated. He lost his license for three months, was told to perform 10 hours of community service and ordered to attend DUI school. 

Thole and Gershkoff, both 20, were classmates at North Kingstown High School, graduating in 2011. Gershkoff was the fourth member of the Class of 2011 to die in local car crashes. 

Michael Ruggieri, 19, and Madeline E. Healey, 18, were killed when the truck they were riding in crashed into a tree on Tillinghast Road in East Greenwich in February 2012. The driver, Nicholas Whiteley, also from NK, is in jail for that accident.

Jordan Nonnenmacher was killed when the vehicle he was driving hit a tree on Hamilton Allenton Road in North Kingstown. 

Tom Kenworthy, principal of NKHS, said he spoke to the students Monday morning about the accident and they had a moment of silence. 

"You just feel for them," he said of the Gershkoff family, but also the Thole family. 

School counselors are available for students but, he said, most students seem to process these things in their own way. The high school also has a student assistance counselor who does drug and alcohol counseling. 

"It's a tough age group," said Kenworthy of those over 18 and under 21. "I think it's really a multi-faceted problem."

It's particularly sad for Kenworthy because the Class of 2011 was his first graduating class as principal. 

"I've known each of these kids and their families for a while."