DHS said the man pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in the crash that killed Minnesota truck driver Tim Tarnowski and was arrested in New York this month
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it has arrested a Russian national who pleaded guilty in a 2024 crash that killed a Minnesota truck driver, taking him into custody in New York earlier this month.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the crash happened on March 5, 2024, when truck driver Tim Tarnowski was driving on a rural road in Chippewa County, Minnesota, and was struck by a pickup driven by a man the agency identified as Georgii Gabiev. DHS said Gabiev failed to obey a stop sign, causing a collision that killed Tarnowski, and said Gabiev was watching a video on his iPad at the time.
DHS said Gabiev pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and served 120 days in jail. The agency said ICE officers arrested him on June 9, 2026, in Brooklyn, New York, where he will remain in custody pending removal proceedings. According to DHS, Secretary Markwayne Mullin called Tarnowski’s widow, Tammy, to tell her of the arrest.
“Although Tim will never be brought back, Gabiev’s capture will bring the justice deserved,” Tammy Tarnowski said in the agency’s statement. She said the arrest gave her family closure and expressed hope that it would help others avoid similar heartache.
In his own statement, Mullin said Gabiev “had no business being in our country and on our roadways,” and attributed the tragedy to the prior administration’s border policies. DHS said Gabiev entered the United States in California in 2022 and was released at that time.
