The driver of a semi-truck that killed three after a crash on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County has been charged on vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations, on Monday.
Harjinder Singh, 28, on August 12, tried to make a wrong U-turn at a turnaround path. The path had a no U-turn sign that read “for official use only.” When Singh made the illegal U-turn, it obstructed all lanes heading north. A Chrysler minivan was unable to slow down and became trapped beneath the truck, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
The two passengers inside the minivan died on the scene, while the driver was pronounced dead at the HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. The driver of the minivan was identified as a 30-year-old man from Florida City, and the two passengers was identified as a 37-year-old woman from Pompano Beach and a 54-year-old man from Miami, according to local news sources.
Singh and his passenger were uninjured in the accident.
Singh was in the country illegally, having crossed into the US in 2018 from Mexico, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles statement on Saturday. Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, the department said.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers charged Singh—who is in custody—with three counts of vehicular homicide, then obtained an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainer for him, officials said. Dave Kerner, the department’s executive director, said he will be deported after the conclusion of his state charges.
“The actions taken by the Defendant while operating a commercial tractor-trailer are both shocking and criminal,” Kerner said in a statement on Saturday. “Three people lost their lives as a result of his recklessness, and countless friends and family members will experience the pain of their loss forever.”
According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, a driver must provide proof of legal presence in the US to apply for a commercial driver’s license. It was not immediately clear how Singh was able to obtain his license, reports NBC 6 South Florida.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem posted on X: “3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License. This gut wrenching tragedy should have never happened.”
Noem added the DHS will work with the US Department of Transportation to ensure that “illegal aliens do not get licenses from sanctuary jurisdictions that put American drivers and passengers in danger.”