Jaswinder Singh, a 52-year-old driver, was accused of killing young Joseph Kelly by driving a 19-ton garbage truck at “an unreasonable speed.”
on Long Island (NY) in broad daylight.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced yesterday that Singh, a Queens (NYC) resident, will face charges including criminally negligent homicide for the fatal accident that occurred in July 2023 when the victim was stopped in his car, waiting for the light. green at the traffic light.
Investigators said Singh was behind the wheel of a speeding New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) truck on July 3, driving from Brooklyn to a commercial operation in Suffolk County to service the vehicle.
The suspect allegedly “failed to slow down or apply the truck's brakes” when he turned onto Hauppauge and crashed into several vehicles waiting at a red light, including the 24-year-old victim's Honda Civic.
The momentum of the 38,900-pound garbage truck caused Singh to “run the red light at the intersection,” prosecutors maintain. The collision is said to have damaged five vehicles, including a school bus. Prosecutors say the crash created a debris field that extended approximately 300 feet. The DSNY said Singh is not an employee of theirs.
“This defendant, who was allegedly driving a 19-ton truck, had a responsibility to drive safely and cautiously,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said Friday. “Instead, it is alleged that he was speeding, causing him to crash into a line of stopped cars at the traffic light, causing the loss of Joseph Kelly’s life.”
Kelly, a West Islip resident, died on impact. Criminally negligent homicide is a serious crime that carries a maximum prison sentence of four years. Singh is also charged with two counts of assault and reckless driving, Daily News summarized.
The court ordered Singh to surrender his passport and suspended his driver's license. He is due back in court on May 17. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case, in January of this year a 42-year-old driver was killed when his luxurious Mercedes-Benz was speeding and collided with a private garbage truck at an intersection in Brooklyn, the NYPD reported. Last December, thirteen people were injured after an MTA bus and a DSNY truck collided in the Bronx (NYC). In April 2022, a 3-year-old baby and her grandmother died when they were hit by a garbage truck in broad daylight in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The authorities remember that there is zero tolerance for drivers who drive at excess speed and/or under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also frequent protagonists of road accidents, as victims and perpetrators, when riding on sidewalks, disrespecting traffic lights and even the direction of the streets.
Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that with the so-called Sammy's Law, New York City will gain the authority to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph and even 10 mph on streets in all five boroughs as part of the agreement. emerging state budget in Albany.
In December, Governor Hochul signed “Angelica's Law,” intended to keep drivers with prior suspensions off the road by charging repeat offenders who operate vehicles after committing five or more traffic violations that resulted in suspensions with felony charges. or revocations.
