A truck driver from the California city of Stockton, who is at the center of a major case getting national attention, has been extradited back to Florida.
Harjinder Singh is accused of making an illegal U-turn, causing a crash in Florida that killed three people. He was held at the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp in California’s Central Valley.
Florida’s new Lieutenant Governor, Jay Collins, flew to California on Wednesday to pick up Singh and bring him back to Florida to face charges. On Thursday, Singh was guided onto a plane at the Stockton airport by Collins and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed the plan in a statement, saying, “We’re going to extradite him back to Florida and throw the book at him.”
Singh, an Indian national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2018. After the deadly crash on August 12, he returned to California and was arrested four days later by U.S. Marshals.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said this move by Florida is all for show.
“Florida let a murder suspect walk. California arrested him. Now, Florida wants a photo-op picking him up,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said.
The governor’s office also mentioned California’s sanctuary law, SB-54, which prevents local police from handing people over to immigration authorities if they don’t have a criminal history.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Collins questioned how Singh was able to drive a commercial vehicle and said Singh answered three of the 16 questions officers asked him at the scene in Florida.
“He fled here because of the failed policies, these open border nonsense,” Collins said. “The fact that you want to be a sanctuary state here because Gavin Newsom fails to understand his own citizens and the American citizens have given President Donald J Trump a mandate. Gov. Ron DeSantis has led on this. That gentleman, that thug, fled back here because he knew those policies would defend him.”
San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said that Singh had no criminal record before this crash. Withrow said it’s still unclear whether the crash was an accident or intentional.
