A judge ruled Thursday that a 19-year-old Northfield man should be held without bail while awaiting trial on charges that he tried to kill his girlfriend and her friend by ramming her car off a steep embankment.
Aleksander Cherkasov faces four felony and five misdemeanor charges, including second-degree attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The charges stem from an incident March 20 on Turkey Hill Road in Northfield, in which neighbors reported one car rammed another car off an embankment, where it fell 40 to 50 feet. Police allege Cherkasov was driving the car that rammed the other vehicle.
Authorities said Cherkasov’s on-again, off-again girlfriend and her friend had been in the other car, and were able to get out just before the vehicle crashed down the slope.
According to a police affidavit filed in the case, Cherkasov and his girlfriend had been arguing earlier; he accused her of denting his car and eventually punched her in the face before she fled with a friend in her car. A chase ensued, culminating in the crash down the embankment.
After the incident, police searched for months for Cherkasov, eventually finding him with his mother in Nevada early last month.
During the hearing in Washington Superior Court on Thursday, which was held in person and virtually, prosecutor Kristin Gozzi argued that Cherkasov poses a significant flight risk and his charges are serious enough that being held without bail is warranted.
The prosecution also asked that Cherkasov not receive any special treatment as a youth offender.
Cherkasov’s lawyer, Jessica Burke, who was privately retained, argued for his release into his father’s custody. She said that, although police had notified Cherkasov’s parents of the warrant for his arrest, Cherkasov was never notified himself. She implied he was unaware of the charges against him when he left the state.
Judge Mary Morrissey ultimately sided with the prosecutors, and ordered that Cherkasov be held at Northwest State Correctional Facility without bail until trial.
