The 21-year-old truck driver arrested after a fiery crash that killed three people on the 10 Freeway in Ontario was not under the influence of drugs at the time, authorities say.
Jashanpreet Singh of Yuba City was arrested on suspicion of DUI and originally faced a felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a felony charge of driving under the influence of drugs causing injury.
His case drew national headlines after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials claimed that Singh was an undocumented immigrant who had entered the country from the southern border.
Weeks after Singh’s arrest, prosecutors have amended their complaint to reflect that the suspected DUI allegation could not be proved.
“Toxicology reports confirmed none of the substances tested were present in the defendant’s blood at the time the test was rendered,” the San Bernardino County district attorney said in a recent statement. In the amended complaint, Singh is charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of reckless driving causing a specified injury.
In the collision, which took place around 1:10 p.m. on Oct. 21, Singh allegedly failed to hit his brakes as traffic was slowing, resulting in an eight-vehicle pileup, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson.
The massive crash involved four big rigs and four passenger cars.
Video from a dashboard camera from ABC7 showed the semi truck slamming into the car in front of it and plowing ahead through passenger cars, then finally slamming into a truck. One of the cars then went up in flames.
Three people were killed and four were injured. Among them was a former Pomona high assistant basketball coach and his wife.
Singh was held without bail at High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto.
