An Ontario truck driver who avoided Canadian authorities for more than nine months after allegedly causing a crash that killed a Manitoba mother and her eight-year-old daughter when he drove through a stop sign last year has been granted bail.
Navjeet Singh, 26, was released with conditions including surrendering his passport and driver’s licence, not occupying the driver’s seat of a vehicle, living at a specified address in Ontario and reporting weekly to police in Manitoba, following a contested bail hearing before provincial court Judge Michael Clark on Aug. 28.
Singh was arrested a week earlier at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, after he arrived in Canada on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, police said at the time.
He’d been wanted on charges including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death following the Nov. 15, 2024, crash that killed Sara Unger, 35, and her daughter, Alexa, near the town of Altona, about 90 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
Crown attorney Michael Himmelman said during Singh’s bail hearing investigators believe he was driving at least 91 km/h on a section of highway with a 100 km/h speed limit when he blew through the stop sign that evening, crashing into the passenger side of Unger’s SUV.
Court heard highway conditions that night were normal, and no environmental concerns, such as obstructions, were noted, according to a recording of the bail hearing reviewed by CBC.
Police tried to interview Singh at the hospital following the crash but were told he was in shock. They instructed Singh to contact investigators when he was released.Officers did later contact him, but he never came in for an interview as promised.
One witness to the crash described the impact of the collision as an “explosion,” Himmelman said. The SUV was “essentially football-kicked a distance of over 53 metres,” he said, and the force of the impact was so aggressive “that the front of the SUV was almost removed” and all its windows were broken.
The prosecutor also noted the black box in Singh’s semi was turned off at the time of the crash, and alleged Singh falsified his driving log — which led one investigator to conclude Singh didn’t take the required consecutive eight hours of rest before getting on the road before the crash.
“This could point toward driver fatigue, which could be a contributing factor to the collision,” Himmelman said.
“The fact that the data recorder in the accused’s vehicle had been shut off, I submit, is incredibly concerning. There’s also the manipulation and falsification of his driving logs to consider, in terms of whether Mr. Singh can be taken at his word.”
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While Himmelman said Singh has no criminal record, the prosecutor argued he poses a significant flight risk.
He said Singh also admitted he knew about the warrant for his arrest when he left Canada, which “leads to the inescapable conclusion that the accused knowingly evaded the police.”
In response to concerns his client is a flight risk, Singh’s lawyer, Ontario-based Abhay Gautam, said Singh was fully aware he’d be arrested when he returned to Canada and did so anyway.
“He came back with that knowledge, and he came back to fight the charges,” Gautam told court. “It is unfortunate that a crash happened and two lives were lost. And I’m at a loss of words, you know. One can only imagine what the family must be going through.”
Court heard Singh arrived in Canada from India in 2020 as an international student. He got a work permit in 2022 and has been working as a truck driver since, Gautam said.
The lawyer said Singh was “shocked and stressed” following the crash, adding when the driver told his parents what happened, “his mother’s health took a turn and she fell ill. And he said that he had left the country then to be of support to his parents.”
Gautam also said Singh informed him his family depends on his income to cover expenses, including medications his mother takes.
Judge Clark said while the crash was “horrific” and the charges against Singh carry the potential for a lengthy term of imprisonment if he’s convicted, courts aren’t supposed to deny reasonable bail without just cause.
The conditions of Singh’s bail — which also include not contacting relatives of the victims or witnesses in the case, abiding by a curfew and having a relative promise to pay $7,500 if he breaches any of those rules — should help address any concerns around his release.
“I do think that the public would maintain confidence in the administration of justice if I were to release Mr. Singh on appropriate conditions,” Clark said. “And I will do that.”
Singh’s case is scheduled to appear in court again in December.
