Authorities have named Jashanpreet Singh as the driver in the horrific incident involving many cars that happened on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, California, on Tuesday. Singh was reportedly driving under the influence when the terrible tragedy happened, killing three individuals and injuring at least four more.
Several sources say that the 21-year-old from Yuba City, California, slammed his truck into cars that were stalled in gridlock on the westbound 10 Freeway. The impact of the crash set off a terrible chain reaction. Police say that Singh was fast and on narcotics at the time of the crash, and that he never tapped the brakes before hitting the other car.
Singh is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He is facing significant accusations, such as vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence of substances that cause serious bodily harm. He is being held on suspicion of these offenses, although no formal charges have been made yet. The names of the three people who died in the collision have not been made public yet.
Citizenship Status: From Local Resident to National Headline
After the collision, people instantly started to wonder about the driver’s immigration status. The deadly accident in California happened just a few months after a similar one in Florida involving another Indian truck driver, Harjinder Singh. This led to a national debate over immigration policies and driver licensing.
People on social media sites like X (previously Twitter) started asking questions about Singh’s background:
“Is Jashanpreet Singh a US citizen or a permanent legal resident?”
“Does he have a CDL for California residents or a CDL for non-residents?”
“Was Jashanpreet Singh a lawful resident? When did he receive his driver’s license?
Authorities told local news station KTLA that the suspect, Jashanpreet Singh, is a 21-year-old man from Yuba City. But they didn’t say anything about his citizenship. Fact-checking tools like Grok on X pointed out the uncertainty by telling users that “No public records or reports confirm Jashanpreet Singh’s citizenship status” and that guesses based only on his distinctly Punjabi Sikh name and residence in Yuba City (a well-known hub for Indian immigrants in California’s trucking industry) were not reliable.
Fox News Report Says “Indian Illegal Alien” Status
When Bill Melugin, a Fox News reporter, posted a big claim on X and said it came from his sources in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the story changed a lot.
Melugin said, “According to several ICE sources, Jashanpreet Singh, the semi-truck driver who is thought to have killed three people in a DUI crash on the 10 freeway in Ontario, CA, yesterday, is an Indian illegal alien who the Joe Biden administration caught and let go at the CA border in March 2022.” Federal sources sent a DHS photo of him.
The writer also said that ICE is asking the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to hold Singh. A request for an ICE detainer asks local police to keep a non-citizen in custody for up to 48 hours longer than they would normally be released. This gives ICE time to take them into custody for possible deportation proceedings.
This news means that Singh’s immigration status will be a big deal once his criminal case is over in California. This might mean that he will be sent back to his home country.