Judge grants bail to trucker accused of killing Manitoba mother, daughter in fatal crash last fall, fleeing country

An Ontario truck driver, accused of causing a crash that killed a mother and daughter and then fleeing the country, has been released on bail as he awaits court proceedings.

Provincial court Judge Michael Clark granted a release order for Navjeet Singh during a bail hearing in Winnipeg, on the condition he surrender his passport and remain at an Ontario residence until his court case proceeds.

Crown prosecutor Michael Himmelman opposed the decision, warning the release “would endanger public confidence in the justice system.”

“There are suspicious circumstances, to say the least, surrounding this tragedy,” he said, accusing Singh of “driving in an objectively dangerous manner” before a collision that killed 35-year-old Sara Unger and her eight-year-old daughter, Alexa, on Nov. 15, 2024.

Police said Singh was behind the wheel of a semi-trailer that drove through a stop sign at a highway intersection west of Altona, striking Unger’s SUV.

Himmelman alleged Singh had falsified his commercial driving records and was fatigued at the time of the collision.

Singh, now 26, was arrested at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Aug. 21, after he returned to Canada aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight. He had spent the previous nine months wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in connection to the crash. The bail hearing was on Aug. 28.

RCMP initially attempted to interview Singh when he was admitted to Boundary Trails Health Centre between Winkler and Morden as a precaution after the collision. Police said Singh was in shock and agreed to sit down with him a later time instead.

When a subsequent interview was scheduled, Singh did not show up. Police could not locate him after he was charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death, prompting the nationwide hunt.

The allegations have not been tested in court.

RCMP officers finally interviewed Singh in Punjabi, his first language, after he returned to Canada. In that conversation, he admitted to knowing he was wanted by police before leaving the country, Himmelman said.

“We submit this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the accused knowingly evaded the police,” Himmelman said

Singh was charged with obstruction of justice in connection to his flight from police, but court records show that charge has since been stayed.

Abhay Gautam — a defence lawyer from Milton, Ont., who is representing Singh — told court his client returned to Canada with the understanding that he would immediately be arrested.

“He came back to fight the charges,” Gautam said. “I’m at a loss of words. One can only imagine what the family must be going through, but then there is also the other side of this story, which is of the accused.”

Singh was “shocked and distressed” after the accident and called his parents in India to tell them what happened. His mother “fell ill” after receiving the news, and Singh returned to his home country to care for her, Gautam said.

“We submit this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the accused knowingly evaded the police.”

Court did not hear how, or when, Singh is believed to have left Canada.

Singh contacted Gautam to represent him around the third week of July, Gautam said.

The accused first arrived in Canada in 2020 as an international student and completed an unspecified education program in Montreal before applying for a work permit. His entire family in India depended on his income, including to pay for medication for his parents, Gautam said.

He was living in Brampton, Ont., and working for an Alberta-based trucking company at the time of the crash.

The company did not respond to the Free Press after multiple requests for comment made via phone and email over several months.

Himmelman alleged a motor carrier enforcement officer who participated in the post-crash investigation uncovered a slate of “inconsistencies” with Singh’s electronic driving records.

According to federal regulations, a commercial truck driver cannot remain behind the wheel for more than 13 hours in a 24-hour period, and must have at least 10 hours off-duty time each day, of which eight hours must be consecutive.

The investigation identified an instance in which the semi-truck was still moving after Singh had switched to “sleeper berth status” on the day before the crash. Singh’s explanation of where, and for how long, he had been driving on the day of the collision also contradicted evidence obtained by the officer, Himmelman said.

RCMP forensic investigators were unable to recover data from the semi-truck’s black-box recorder after the crash, and therefore could not confirm how fast Singh was travelling or whether he attempted to brake before the highway intersection, Himmelman said.

It is unclear when, or by whom, the recording device was turned off, he said.

Investigators believe the semi-truck was travelling at least 91 kilometres per hour, but could have been going faster. Unger’s SUV, which did have a functional black box, was travelling at the 100 km/h speed limit, Himmelman said.

Himmelman said two other motorists witnessed the crash and told investigators the semi-trailer did not slow down. It struck the SUV with so much force it “essentially football-kicked” the vehicle a distance of 53 metres, he said.

Clark stressed Singh is presumed innocent before the court. He accepted the defence plan to have Singh released on surety signed by his cousin in Ontario.

The woman, a nurse practitioner, agreed to pay the court $7,500 should Singh violate the conditions of his release.

“While this is a horrific event and Mr. Singh may or may not face criminal consequences… I do think the public would maintain confidence in the administration of justice if I were to release (him),” Clark said.

Singh has been ordered to abide by a curfew that restricts him from leaving his cousin’s home between midnight and 7 a.m. each day. He also surrendered his driver’s licence, is prohibited from being in the driver’s seat of a vehicle and must have no contact with his victims’ family or with people who witnessed the crash.

The accused must check in with RCMP in Morden weekly by phone. He is prohibited from applying for any travel documents, and cannot leave the provincial boundaries of Ontario or Manitoba, Clark ruled.

The case will proceed in court in Morden on Dec. 16.

Relatives of the victims declined to comment Monday.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca