The driver of a semi-truck that slammed into multiple vehicles, killing three people, on a California highway was allegedly under the influence of drugs, authorities said.
The driver — identified by authorities as 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh — has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury in connection with Tuesday’s chain-reaction crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario, according to a criminal complaint.
He is in the United States illegally and an immigration detainer has also been placed on him, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Authorities said Singh was driving a Freightliner semi-truck and failed to stop in time when traffic in his lane had slowed or stopped Tuesday afternoon. Three people were killed and at least three others injured in the multi-vehicle crash, according to the complaint.
Dash camera footage of the crash showed the truck slam into multiple vehicles in a fiery crash, then veer off into the shoulder and ram into additional vehicles before coming to a stop.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, which filed charges against Singh on Thursday, said eyewitness and dashcam footage showed him “traveling at a high rate of speed into stopped traffic,” resulting in a “massive and chaotic scene.”
A 54-year-old man who was driving a Toyota Tacoma and two occupants in a Kia Sorento were killed in the crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A 43-year-old driver of a Dodge Avenger and a 59-year-old individual who was standing outside of a vehicle both suffered major injuries, while a 57-year-old passenger in a Chevrolet 2500 had a minor injury, police said.
Eight vehicles, including four commercial vehicles, were involved in the crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson called the incident a “heinous tragedy” that was “easily avoidable if the defendant was not driving in a grossly negligent manner and impaired.”
“Had the rule of law been followed by State and Federal officials the defendant should have never been in California at all,” he added in a statement.
