A day after a fiery crash that killed three people and injured several others on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, law enforcement officials identified the truck driver accused of causing the crash.
Jashanpreet Singh, 21 was arrested by California Highway Patrol officers at the site of the crash Tuesday afternoon, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department inmate log.
He was booked on a felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a felony charge of driving under the influence of drugs causing injury, according to the log.
In the collision, which took place around 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, a big rig driver failed to hit his brakes as traffic was slowing, resulting in an eight-vehicle pile-up, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson.
Dashboard camera footage obtained by ABC7 shows the shocking moment the truck slams into the car in front of it and continues to plow forward through several other passenger cars before slamming into a truck.
Flames can be seen at the edge of the camera as one of the passenger cars ignites.
Three people were killed and four injured, and the crash resulted in a multi-lane closure that snarled rush-hour traffic, authorities said.
The collision took place as traffic was slowing down on the westbound 10 Freeway near the 15 Freeway interchange, according to Officer Joe Garcia, a CHP spokesperson.
Singh was arrested by the CHP on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, Garcia said.
The crash involved four semi-trucks and four passenger cars, one of which was engulfed in flames. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene and four were transported to local hospitals for treatment, Garcia said.
Among those killed was former Pomona High School assistant basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife, Lisa, according to reporting by KTLA. The high school posted a photo of the coach with the words “RIP Coach Nelson and his wife.”
By Wednesday night, all but one of the four people hospitalized in the crash — including Singh — had been released from the hospital, said Rodrigo Jimenez, a CHP spokesperson.
Released from the hospital, Singh was being held without bail while awaiting his initial hearing, scheduled for Thursday.
