A 21-year-old Indian man, identified as Jashanpreet Singh, has been arrested in Southern California for causing a deadly freeway crash that left three people dead and several others injured.
According to San Bernardino County police, Singh was allegedly under the influence of drugs when his Freightliner tractor-trailer crashed into slow-moving traffic on a freeway earlier this week. Dashcam footage from the truck shows no sign of braking before impact.
Police said the crash triggered a chain reaction, setting several vehicles ablaze. A mechanic assisting with a tyre change and two occupants of an SUV were killed instantly. Singh and a few others were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries.
“He never applied the brakes before the crash. Toxicology reports later confirmed drug impairment,” CHP Officer Rodrigo Jimenez told ABC7 News.
Illegal entry and federal hold
US federal officials confirmed that Singh entered the country illegally in March 2022 through California’s El Centro Sector and was released under the “alternatives to detention” programme pending immigration hearings.
The US Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have since filed an immigration detainer against him following his arrest on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
According to Fox News, Singh had no legal immigration status and was driving commercially at the time of the crash.
Authorities said the victims’ names have not been released pending family notification.
The incident adds to a string of similar cases involving undocumented truck drivers. In August, another Indian national, Harjinder Singh, was arrested in Florida’s Fort Pierce for a crash that killed three people. He, too, had reportedly crossed the southern border illegally before obtaining a commercial driving licence in California.
