New Delhi: An Indian origin man has been accused of killing three people and injuring four others in Southern California, the US in a semi-truck crash.
The accused, Jashanpreet Singh, 21, has since been arrested on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.
California police reports say Singh, who had illegally immigrated in 2022, was intoxicated at the time of the accident on 21 October when he slammed his truck onto the slow-moving traffic on a San Bernardino County freeway.
“Singh was eventually transported to a hospital, and he was checked out by the medical staff, and our officers determined he was driving under the influence of drugs,” California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said.
The accused, along with a mechanic who was repairing a tyre by the roadside, was also injured during the collision.
Dash cam footage of Singh’s Freightliner tractor-trailer showed the semi-truck ramming onto vehicles in front before falling sideways.
Jimenez further added that Singh allegedly didn’t hit the brakes upon impact. His toxicology reports confirm that he was on drugs. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) has lodged an immigration detainer against Singh following his arrest.
Singh was reportedly intercepted by Border Patrol agents in California’s El Centro Sector in March 2022 after he entered the country. He was, however, later released by the Joe Biden administration, under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) policy, which allows some undocumented immigrants to remain free without detention while they await immigration hearings, with the state monitoring them.
Following the accident Tuesday, debate over the federal immigration and trucking regulations reignited after Secretary of Department of Transport, Sean Duffy, shared a post on social media saying such accidents were the reason the department has withheld $40 million in federal funds from California.
This is exactly why @USDOT has withheld $40 MILLION from California for failure to comply with our rules to protect drivers.
We cannot allow our roads to be a dangerous place! https://t.co/kPTkuOXBRu
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) October 22, 2025
In a similar instance, in August, another illegal Indian immigrant was arrested for killing three people while taking an illegal U-turn on a freeway in a crash in Fort Pierce, Florida. The accused, Harjinder Singh, reportedly illegally crossed the border in 2018 and then obtained a commercial driver’s licence in California.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)
Also Read: Should the govt get involved in Harjinder Singh case? He’s no victim
Does The Print have rights and permission under law to name and use the pictures of the accused? It is very illegal and unethical practice to name accused and use his/her in news media like this, who is still accused that too in US? Shekhar Gupta and his team should think about it this, and uphold high journalistic standards.