The illegal immigrant from India accused of causing a fatal pile-up in California pleaded not guilty Tuesday to downgraded charges after blood tests revealed he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

Jashanpreet Singh, 21, is accused of causing a collision involving eight vehicles on the westbound 10 Freeway in San Bernardino County last month. The incident left three people dead and four others injured.

Singh appeared in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga, California, wearing orange jail scrubs and shackled at his wrists, but notably without his Sikh turban, which he had requested to wear. He pleaded not guilty to a new complaint charging him with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Authorities had initially claimed Singh was under the influence of drugs when he crashed his semi-truck during slow-moving traffic. However, prosecutors in San Bernardino later announced that no drugs or alcohol were found in his blood following testing.

Singh now faces three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and reckless driving. The prior charges of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence were dropped, according to an amended criminal complaint.

Under the previous, more serious charges, Singh faced up to 17 years in prison. With the downgraded charges, he now faces up to 10 years if convicted.

The judge denied Singh’s renewed request for bail and set his next court date for Thursday. During that hearing, Singh may file a motion seeking permission to wear his religious head covering in court.

Harrowing dashcam footage captured the red tractor-trailer plowing into several cars in one lane, smashing them before colliding into the back of a white truck. At least eight vehicles were involved in the crash. All westbound lanes of the freeway were shut down for hours while authorities investigated the disaster.

A few days later, the Department of Transportation released a report blaming California Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration for allegedly unlawfully upgrading Singh’s license. The report claims this was done despite a new law, effective September 26, that prevented illegal immigrants from holding commercial driver’s licenses.

According to the report, Singh’s driving privileges were upgraded from a restricted Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)—which allowed him to drive a commercial truck only within California—to an expanded CDL on October 15, in violation of the new law.

The victims were identified as Fontana couple Clarence and Lisa Nelson, ages 76 and 69, and Jaime Flores Garcia, 54, of Upland, according to the Rancho Cucamonga Daily Bulletin.

In response to Singh’s crash and another similar collision, two Republican lawmakers—Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Representative Andy Barr (R-Kentucky)—called on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to investigate the CDL approval programs.

The other collision involved Harjinder Singh, also an illegal immigrant from India, who is accused of killing three people after making an illegal U-turn with an 18-wheeler through an “Official Use Only” zone. This crash occurred in Fort Pierce, Florida, on August 12, when Harjinder collided with a van.

Harjinder Singh was driving with a California-issued CDL and now faces vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations for allegedly entering the United States illegally in 2018.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/04/us-news/illegal-immigrant-accused-of-causing-fatal-pile-up-in-california-pleads-not-guilty-to-downgraded-charges-after-tests-revealed-he-wasnt-on-drugs-or-alcohol/