The driver who was accused of causing a deadly eight-car pile-up along the 10 Freeway in Ontario last year has pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicle manslaughter, NBC Los Angeles learned Thursday.
Jashanpreet Singh was allegedly driving a semi-truck when he crashed into seven other cars — three semi-trucks, two pick-up trucks and two cars — in October 2025. Three people died, and four others were injured in the crash.
After pleading guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, Singh is expected to be sentenced on July 14 in Rancho Cucamonga, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said.
The DA’s office told NBCLA that Singh changed his plea from not guilty to guilty during a hearing last month.
Singh remained in custody in a San Bernardino County jail in Adelanto as of Thursday as he is ineligible for bail.
The 21-year-old undocumented immigrant from India first entered the U.S. through the southern border in 2022, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“(He) was RELEASED into the country under the Biden administration, the DHS had said in a statement last year.
The California Department of Motor Vehicle confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that Singh had a commercial driver’s license classification in the state.
When the collision happened, a witness described the crash sounding like a big explosion as he recalled a red semi-truck, allegedly driven by Singh, barreling down the freeway before the impact.
“It didn’t stop. It didn’t swerve. It didn’t make any kind of maneuvers. It just went straight in,” Jason Calmelat described what he saw.
The California Highway Patrol said traffic on the westbound lanes had slowed down right before the crash, but Singh’s truck did not stop and caused the massive chain reaction crash.
“The truck rolled and veered to the right into the embankment, and I saw the truck drive jump out because it was on fire,” Calmelat said.
The four injured people including Singh, and a mechanic who was helping change a tire on the side of the freeway at the time of the crash, the California Highway Patrol said.
“It was one of those crashes where there were car parts everywhere. We had a hazardous material incident. It was a very large scene,” Officer Rodrigo Jimenez with the CHP said. “This could have been prevented if somebody had been paying attention sober.