{"id":508772,"date":"2026-10-26T21:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508772\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T21:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:28:09","slug":"toxicology-delay-could-push-charges-against-singh-past-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508772\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxicology delay could push charges against Singh past election"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decision to file charges against Fresno City Council candidate Naindeep Singh for an alleged DUI may not be made until after the Nov 3 election, according to the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Singh was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug, an accusation disputed by Singh\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n

Fresno police said Singh\u2019s blood was tested, but the results of that toxicology report could take up to three weeks, said Taylor Long, a spokesperson for the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the investigative reports and supplemental information is completed by the lab and then submitted by Fresno PD to our office for review, it\u2019s too early to comment on any potential filing decision,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n

The 48-year-old Singh, executive director of the Jakara Movement, is locked in a tight race for the Fresno City Council District 1 seat against Rob Fuentes, a former federal prosecutor.<\/p>\n

Singh\u2019s supporters say they don\u2019t believe he did anything wrong and question the timing of his arrest with a week to go before the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have known Deep for years, and I have never known him to use drugs or alcohol and I have never seen him intoxicated,\u201d said Kiel Thomas Lopez-Schmidt<\/a>, longtime Tower District resident and executive director of South Tower Community Land Trust. \u201cHe cares deeply about our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez-Schmidt is also concerned that the recent increase in police presence in the Tower<\/a> District may have contributed to a hypervigilant awareness by police.<\/p>\n

Extra officers were added recently in an effort to reduce acts of violence in the area popular for its nightlife<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey increased the number of police without a clear mission,\u201d he said. \u201cYou now have too many cops out here trying to find something, and that opens the potential for racial profiling.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Facebook post, Lopez-Schmidt said he spoke to Singh who confirmed he consented to a field sobriety test and a Breathalyzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Breathalyzer result was negative and the police officer\u2019s tone shifted from suspecting alcohol to suspecting drug use. That is when he was taken to the hospital for the full toxicology report,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 26, 2026 at 1:51 PM.<\/p>\n

Follow More of Our Reporting on Reality Check<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Rodriguez<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

A Valley native, Robert has worked at The Fresno Bee since 1994, covering various topics including education, business, courts and agriculture.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A decision to file charges against Fresno City Council candidate Naindeep Singh for an alleged DUI may not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-508772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}