A commercial truck driver accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people on Florida’s Turnpike last month waived his first appearance hearing Monday and entered a not guilty plea, court records show.
Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old native of India, is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail after being denied bond on three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. Singh lived in California and was originally issued a commercial driver’s license in Washington before California issued him one.
Semi truck drivers pleads not guilty in St. Lucie County
Fallout from the crash led to a war of words between the Trump administration and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and new, stricter rules for non-citizens to obtain commercial drivers licenses. That policy was announced Friday by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Singh attempted to make a U-turn Aug. 12 from the northbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike near Fort Pierce. A minivan that was behind Singh’s big rig couldn’t stop and crashed into the truck, killing its driver and two passengers. Singh and a passenger in the truck were not injured…