A dashcam video captured the moment Indian-origin truck driver Jashanpreet Singh allegedly rammed his vehicle into several cars caught in slow-moving traffic in California, United States. According to reports, Jashanpreet Singh was believed to be drunk at the time of the incident.
The footage shows his red truck plowing through several vehicles and causing chaos on the highway. Three people died in the accident.
Police said Jashanpreet Singh failed to brake as he approached the vehicles in front of him and crashed straight into traffic. They added that toxicology tests later confirmed he was impaired at the time of the incident.
Dashcam video also shows that the vehicle was not stopped even though it was still closing in on the vehicles in front of it, leading to the devastating crash that killed three people.
Jashanpreet Singh was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He allegedly entered America illegally.
Jashanpreet Singh reportedly crossed the US southern border in 2022 and was released pending an immigration hearing.
He was not in legal immigration status, the report said, citing US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources, adding that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained an immigration detainer following his arrest.
Jashanpreet Singh was released under the Biden administration’s 2022 policy on “alternatives to detention,” the agency said.
This is the second case since August involving an Indian-origin truck driver accused of causing a fatal accident in the US.
What the White House said
The press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavittová, commented on the crash in California, saying that the Department of Transportation has already reviewed the matter and is investigating the circumstances of the incident.
“Regarding this case in California, on October 22, ICE detained an immigration detainer following his arrest by local authorities in California on charges of intoxication manslaughter and DUI. He killed three people.”
She continued, “And he first entered the United States in 2022 through the southern border. And he was released into our country by the previous administration. ICE placed a special detention facility on this person. And these tragedies follow a troubling pattern of commercial vehicle licenses being issued to these criminal illegal aliens. The Department of Transportation has absolutely cracked down on that.”
On August 12, 28-year-old Harjinder Singh allegedly swerved his tractor-trailer illegally in Florida, causing a collision that left three dead. He was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide.
Following the incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the suspension of all work visa issuances for commercial truck drivers.
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“The growing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailers on American roads is endangering American lives and undermining the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio wrote on social media.
