ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. – A semitruck driver accused of making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike and causing a crash that killed three people failed his commercial driver’s test 10 times in the span of two months, according to a senior official in the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Harjinder Singh is being held without bond in the St. Lucie County Jail.
Singh, who is from India, lived in California and was originally issued a CDL in Washington before California also issued him one. He was carrying a valid California CDL at the time of the crash, according to court filings.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, a minivan crashed into the semitruck on Aug. 12 as Singh attempted the illegal U-turn. Three people in the minivan were killed.
Singh failed a commercial driver’s license test 10 times in the span of two months in 2023 in Washington state, before he was ultimately issued a license, the senior official told The Associated Press. The official is not authorized to comment publicly about an ongoing investigation and provided the information on the condition of not being identified.
According to WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, the passengers were a 37-year-old woman from Pompano Beach, a 54-year-old man from Miami and the driver was a 30-year-old man from Florida City.
Florida troopers, with the assistance of ICE, determined that Singh had entered the U.S. illegally after crossing the Mexico border in 2018. He then obtained a commercial driver’s license in California.
After Singh’s arrest, FDHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner said, in part, in a statement, “Harjinder Singh is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations ... At the conclusion of his state charges, he will be deported.”
Florida is using the case of Harjinder Singh, who is accused of being in the country illegally, to urge the nation’s highest court to permanently bar some states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses or CDLs to people who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.