Indian-origin truck driver faces homicide charges in US

New York, Aug 22 (PTI) An Indian-origin truck driver is facing charges of vehicular homicide in the US after three people were killed when he allegedly took a wrong turn while driving a truck on a Florida highway, according to a media report.

Harjinder Singh, 28, who fled to California after the incident, has been brought back to Florida following arrest, the New York Post reported on Thursday.

"He thought he could run. @GovRonDeSantis and I brought him back to face justice," Lt Governor Jay Collins said in a post on social media.

Singh faces three counts of vehicular homicide for allegedly making an illegal U-turn across a busy Florida highway in his tractor-trailer on August 12, the report added.

"3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License - this state of governance is asinine," Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on social media.

"How many more innocent people have to die before @GavinNewsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public? We pray for the victims and their families. Secretary Noem and DHS are working around the clock to protect the public and get these criminal illegal aliens out of America," McLaughlin posted.

A viral video shows Singh driving the massive truck through an “Official Use Only” cut-through on a highway and blocking nearly all lanes of traffic - resulting in a minivan crashing into it, leaving three occupants dead, the report said.

Over a week after the incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a pause to all issuances of commercial truck driver work visas.

“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio posted on social media.

The report said that Singh entered the US illegally in 2018 and somehow managed to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in both California and Washington. PTI RD ZH RD RD