Authorities have identified two of the three victims in a fatal crash in California last week involving an illegal alien truck driver.
‘If California had complied with the Secretary’s emergency rule, … he would have never been able to get behind his big rig.’
Clarence Nelson, a 76-year-old Pomona high school basketball coach, and his wife, Lisa Nelson, 69, were killed after a semitruck plowed into several vehicles on the I-10 freeway in Ontario on Tuesday, Fox News Digital reported. Four others were injured.
“This week, our community was deeply saddened by the tragic incident in the City of Ontario,” state Senator Susan Rubio (D) said. “It’s heartbreaking to learn that two of the lives lost were from my district — Pomona High School basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife, Lisa.”
“As a teacher, I know how a loss like this ripples through an entire school community,” she stated. “My heart goes out to their families, the Pomona Unified School District, and everyone mourning this tremendous loss.”
The driver of the truck, Jashanpreet Singh, is a 21-year-old Indian national in the United States illegally. He was suspected of speeding while being under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Singh, and he is facing charges of driving under the influence of drugs and causing bodily injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Singh pleaded not guilty on Friday. His next court appearance is scheduled for November 4. Singh requires an interpreter for his upcoming hearing, ABC News reported, citing court filings.
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Photographer: David Peinado/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an arrest detainer against Singh. According to ICE, he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration.
The Department of Transportation accused California of violating federal law by issuing Singh a commercial driver’s license.
In September, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced the results of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit that found “systemic non-compliance” among driver’s licensing agencies in several states, including California. Duffy ordered a pause of California’s issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, requiring the state to identify all unexpired licenses that fail to comply with regulations.
In mid-October, the DOT stated it was withholding roughly $40 million in federal funds from the state over its failure to comply with English language proficiency standards for commercial drivers.
“If California had complied with the Secretary’s emergency rule and prevented the upgrade of this individual’s driving privileges earlier this month, he would have never been able to get behind his big rig,” the DOT stated about the deadly crash involving Singh.
The department claimed that California initially issued Singh a non-domiciled CDL in June. However, it noted that because Singh was 20 years old at the time, his license included a “K restriction” that limited his driving to intrastate operations.
On October 15, when Singh turned 21, California removed the K restriction without applying the stricter standards DOT announced in its September final rule.
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Photographer: David Peinado/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“If California had complied with the Secretary’s emergency rule and prevented the upgrade of Singh’s driving privileges, Singh would have been required to return to the DMV (on or after October 15) to have the ‘K’ restriction removed and upgrade his CDL,” the DOT stated. “At that time, Singh would have been subject to the emergency rule and found ineligible to retain the non-domiciled CDL due to Singh’s status as an asylum seeker.”
The California DMV told Blaze News that the federal government approved Singh’s employment authorization, which it claimed was valid through August 2030. The DMV stated that it verified Singh’s documents using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, also known as SAVE. It also acknowledged that on September 26, the DOT issued an interim final rule that changed eligibility requirements.
“MISINFORMATION ALERT: The state does not determine commercial driver’s license eligibility,” the California State Transportation Agency wrote in a post on social media. “The FEDERAL government approves and renews all FEDERAL employment authorization documents that allows individuals to work and obtain commercial driver’s licenses.”
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