Truck driver in fatal illegal u-turn pleaded not guilty without appearing in court

The truck driver involved in the now-infamous illegal u-turn crash that resulted in the deaths of three people pleaded not guilty without appearing in court on Monday. 

The not guilty plea was entered on September 29th in St. Lucie County, Florida. 

According to ABC News, 28-year-old Harjinder Singh is still being held in the St. Lucie County Jail on three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations after being denied bail for the August 12th wreck. Singh waived his first appearance hearing. 

Singh’s asylum application was pending at the time of the crash, and he had been issued a CDL in Washington state and California. Many officials, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, say that Singh’s immigration status should have prevented him from obtaining a CDL in any state. 

The fatal crash has since sparked a wave of new rules aimed at cracking down on issuing CDLs to non citizens. Singh is scheduled for a pre-trial docket call on Friday, October 3rd.