The truck driver accused of causing a fatal Florida Turnpike crash that killed three people earlier this month told his story Tuesday for the first time through an advocacy group, which is offering $100,00 to the victims.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a human rights attorney and general counsel to Sikhs for Justice, spoke with Harjinder Singh, 28, at the St. Lucie County Jail, where he is being held pending trial on his manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges.
“I saw sorrow and suffering in his eyes,” said Pannun, who is not representing him legally. “It is important to note that Harjinder’s case is one of tragic misjudgment and not of an intentional or malicious act.”
Sikhs for Justice is committing $100,000 to the families of the deceased, Pannun said. The three killed in the Aug. 12 crash were identified as driver Herby Dufresne, 30, and passengers Faniola Joseph, 37, and Rodrigue Dor, 54. Dufresne died at the hospital, while Joseph and Dor died at the scene. The three victims were part of South Florida’s Haitian community.
Dor’s niece told CBS4, the Herald’s news partner, that she did not know him.
“Nothing can replace the lives that were taken, and we bow our heads in grief,” said Pannun, who said he hasn’t had direct contact with the family.
Singh caused the deadly crash when he tried to make a U-turn at an “official use only” area of the Florida Turnpike about 19 miles north of Fort Pierce, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Video recorded from inside the cabin of the big rig shows the Chrysler Town & Country minivan crumpling underneath the 18-wheeler’s trailer as Singh turned across the two-lane stretch of the highway from the right lane, blocking both lanes of the Turnpike.
Through Pannun, Singh said that immediately after the crash, he went to the minivan and held one of the victims’ hands through a broken window.
Singh was allowed to leave the scene of the crash without being charged. The initial crash did not raise any flags for troopers to check Singh’s immigration status, his arrest report read. Singh had a valid commercial driver’s license from California.
Troopers later announced that he had illegally entered the U.S. through Mexico. Pannun said Singh was fleeing persecution in India.
“Harjinder came to America to build a new life with hard work and dignity,” Pannun said.
The case has drawn national attention, becoming a flashpoint in immigration and licensing debates.
The Department of Homeland Security blasted California’s policy of issuing commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. California officials countered that Singh obtained his license legally after receiving a federal work permit in 2021.
Singh flew to Sacramento on Aug. 13, the day after the crash. He was arrested in Stockton, California, on Aug. 16 and extradited to Florida on Thursday, Aug. 21.
Singh told Pannun that authorities did not give him instructions to stay in the state and allowed him to leave.
Singh was initially charged with three vehicular homicide charges. At his bond hearing Saturday in St. Lucie County, where the accident occurred, prosecutors added three additional manslaughter counts. He appeared before Judge Lauren Sweet, who denied Singh’s bond, saying he was an “unauthorized alien” and a “substantial” flight risk.
A petition for Singh has garnered support from the advocacy group Collective Punjabi Youth, which is urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to seek fair sentencing. More than 3 million people have signed the petition on Change.org.
The petition, like Pannun, noted the crash was not a deliberate act but a “tragic accident.”
Pannun also fears that growing anti-immigration sentiment will cause a backlash against Sikh truck drivers.
“Of course, this has taken a political turn, but ultimately it will be the American court system that is going to decide the case,” he said. “But having said that, I do feel that there is a certain element that there will be more prejudice toward Sikh drivers.”
