Truck Driver Arrested After Fatal Florida Turnpike Crash & Victims Identified

Three South Florida residents were killed on August 12 in a crash on Florida’s Turnpike near Fort Pierce. Authorities say the driver of a tractor-trailer, 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, attempted an illegal U-turn in an area marked for “official use only.”

The victims were identified as Herby Dufresne, 30, of Florida City, Rodrigue Dor, 54, of Miami, and Faniloa Joseph, 37, of Pompano Beach. Dufresne, driving a Chrysler minivan, collided with the semi-truck, which caused the van to lodge under the trailer. Dor and Joseph died at the scene; Dufresne was airlifted to a hospital but later died. Singh and his passenger were unharmed.

Authorities later discovered Singh had been living in the U.S. illegally since 2018. He held commercial driver’s licenses from Washington and California despite failing most portions of an English and traffic sign test. Singh was arrested in California on three counts of vehicular homicide and manslaughter and extradited to Florida, where he is being held without bond.

Florida officials blasted California’s policies for allowing Singh to operate legally, calling it a failure of the immigration system. Florida has since announced stricter inspections at agricultural checkpoints to stop undocumented drivers operating large trucks.