Karan Singh, an Arizona trucker, booked into La Paz County Jail after crashing rig into cars stopped at red light on Sept. 3, 2023 (YouTube/mnrracer screengrab)
A truck driver who was caught on video driving at breakneck speed on Sunday afternoon in Arizona and smashing into cars stopped at a red light is now charged with murder and facing accusations that he was impaired at the time of the crash that also left several injured.
Karan Singh, a 28-year-old from Manteca, crashed his big rig in Parker around 3:30 p.m. near California Avenue and Riverside Drive, the Parker Police Department said. The crash involved four vehicles, plus the truck (“a commercial vehicle”). Three of those cars were stopped at a red light at the moment of impact.
Authorities said from the start that the area was shut down for hours due to a “major accident at the intersection.”
“After the initial collision, all of the vehicles travelled through the intersection, into the parking lot of Terrible Herbst gas station. The commercial vehicle and one of the vehicles hit the building before becoming engulfed in flames,” cops said. “One vehicle collided into a boulder before landing on its roof in the parking lot. Another vehicle in the southbound left turn lane was also struck by the commercial vehicle.”
The harrowing video of the crash confirmed that the truck driver first rear-ended a white vehicle with a trailer behind it before careening through the intersection and hitting into other vehicles at the stop light.
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Additional witness video showed smoke, flames, and destruction on the other side of the intersection, where the truck and the white vehicle first hit came to a stop.
A witness’ video shows aftermath of deadly crash caused by trucker Karan Singh (KTVK/KPHO screengrab)
Debbie Fritzen told local CBS affiliate KTVK/KPHO that her cousins Amy and Peggy were in the area visiting family for the weekend. They had gone to church on Sunday and were heading back to California when they were in one of several vehicles hit by the out-of-control truck driver.
“My cousin Amy died instantly, and my cousin Peggy is on life support, and they don’t think she’s going to make it,” Debbie reportedly said, adding that her cousins were in the vehicle with their spouses and that their car was the last one the trucker hit.
Singh allegedly fled the scene of the crash, but when he was caught, cops said, it appeared he was impaired.
The trucker was booked into La Paz County Jail for second-degree murder and eight counts of aggravated assault.
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