Truck Driver Held After Crash Kills Newlywed Couple, DHS Flags Him As Illegal

Photo: DHS

India-West News Desk

BEND, OR-A 32-year-old Indian national, Rajinder Kumar of Fresno, CA, has been arrested after a semi-truck crash in Oregon killed a newlywed couple, according to statements released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Oregon State Police (OSP).

OSP said the collision occurred around 9:30 p.m. on November 24, about nine miles east of Brothers, when Kumar’s semi-truck jackknifed, its cab positioned eastbound and its trailer stretched across the highway. A westbound Subaru Outback carrying William Micah Carter, 25, and Jennifer Lynn Lower, 24, struck the trailer, killing both at the scene.

Investigators noted that darkness and the absence of active emergency warning devices were key contributing factors.

Kumar has been charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. He remains lodged at the Deschutes County Jail, where a pre-trial release hearing is scheduled, followed by an arraignment.

In a statement DHS said Kumar “entered the United States illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, on November 28, 2022,” and was later issued a California commercial driver’s license and granted work authorization in 2023. DHS added that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed an immigration detainer seeking custody if he is released. Oregon’s sanctuary-state policies could complicate that process.

Local reports, cited in DHS’s announcement, said Kumar had secured bail but remained in custody because he lacked a passport to surrender, one of the conditions required for release.

Kumar’s arrest is the fourth case in 2025 involving an Indian truck driver tied to a fatal or serious crash. Earlier this year, ICE lodged a detainer for Harjinder Singh in Florida after he was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide; Partap Singh was arrested in California following a multi-vehicle crash that critically injured a five-year-old girl; and Jashanpreet Singh was detained in October in California for allegedly causing a DUI crash that killed three people.