Big rig driver sentenced in deadly 10 Freeway chain-reaction crash

The semi-truck driver who pleaded guilty to causing a chain-reaction crash that killed three people last year in Ontario, California, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison Tuesday. Dramatic dashcam video showed the big rig, driven by Jashanpreet Singh of Yuba City, who was 21 at the time, plowing into stopped vehicles on the westbound 10 Freeway on Oct. 22. “The westbound traffic came to either a slow or a stop, and the Freightliner commercial vehicle did not stop, which caused a chain-reaction crash,” CHP spokesperson Rodrigo Jimenez said after the crash. Court records show Singh pleaded guilty in June to three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, the Los Angeles Times reported. Former Pomona High School assistant basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife Lisa Nelson were among the victims of the crash. The high school posted a photo of the coach with the words “RIP Coach Nelson and his wife.” Eight vehicles, including three other big rigs, were involved in the collision, which forced the closure of westbound lanes of the busy interstate for several hours. In addition to the three deaths, four people were injured and transported to local hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to major. At the time of the crash, officials believed Singh was impaired, but the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office later said the DUI allegations were unfounded. The Department of Homeland Security identified Singh as an undocumented immigrant from India who entered the United States in 2022.