BUTTE COUNTY, California — In June 2020, a driver crashed his semi-trailer into stopped traffic at the intersection of Highway 99 and Neal Road, resulting in the deaths of two motorists: David Sims and Lupe Ortiz, both 55, of Los Molinos.
On Monday, August 26, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office announced that the driver, identified as Jobanjit Singh, 26, of Sacramento, was found guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter at his jury trial. Singh will appear in court again on October 22, 2024 for sentencing.
The accident occurred on June 10, 2020 at 12:47 p.m. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Singh was driving his 40,000-pound semi-truck north from Live Oak, eventually approaching the intersection of Highway 99 and Neal Road. Ramsey said Singh then drove his truck directly into the rear of a Honda Accord that was stopped at a red light at the intersection.
After hitting the Honda Accord, the semi-truck continued to speed through three more vehicles before turning left and hitting a traffic light pole, according to Ramsey. The two occupants of the Honda Accord, identified as Sims and Ortiz, died in the crash. Ramsey said the other motorist suffered minor to moderate injuries.
Ramsey said the California Highway Patrol’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) testified at trial that there were no tire scuff marks – skid marks – before the tractor-trailer struck the Honda Accord. They said this was evidence that Singh did not brake before the crash.
In addition, Ramsey said MAIT’s accident reconstructionist testified that the damage to the Honda Accord showed that it was struck full-on in the rear by the semi-truck, and there was no evidence that the semi-truck made any evasive maneuvers to avoid the crash.
According to Ramsey, Singh claimed his truck’s air brakes failed, causing the accident. However, Assistant District Attorney Tyler Vercruyssen argued that if Singh’s air brakes failed, as he claimed, the trailer’s automatic emergency brakes would have left tire scuff marks before the crash, giving Singh enough time to take evasive action to avoid the accident. Vercruyssen pointed out that Singh was able to steer the truck into a traffic light pole. “However, by the time Singh began taking those evasive action, it was already too late for two people,” Vercruyssen said.
Ramsey said the jury ultimately concluded that Singh did not act reasonably and that both deaths were the result of his failure to pay attention to traffic ahead of him.
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