Suspect in Cheat Lake death arrested in California state
A truck driver suspected in the death of a Fayette County man who plunged to his death in a West Virginia lake in January was arrested in the state of California Thursday.
The arrest of Sukhjinder Singh, 37, of New York, follows the mistaken arrest of another man in Phoenix on Tuesday who authorities believed was Singh. The man has since been released.
Singh is facing negligent homicide charges after being accused of running Kevin C. Lataille, 59, of Smithfield, off Interstate 68 in Monongalia County on Jan. 19. Lataille’s vehicle fell 80 feet into Cheat Lake. It was pulled from the water a week later, and Lataille was found in the vehicle, still buckled into the driver’s seat.
Singh was reportedly involved in several other accidents on Interstate 68 that day. He is being held in the Western Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and is due to appear in San Bernardino Superior Court on Monday.
Monongalia County Sheriff Todd Forbes said Singh was operating his vehicle “in a reckless manner, striking multiple vehicles, including Lataille’s, and driving at speeds unsafe for road conditions.”
Forbes said Singh’s “reckless driving” was the direct cause of Lataille’s fatal crash. The sheriff also said the damage to Lataille’s car was “consistent” with a collision involving a truck or trailer.
Singh is a driver for Gurjaap Multani Transport LLC of Riverside, Calif., and he has denied driving recklessly that day or striking other vehicles.
The sheriff’s office in Monongalia County issued a news release Tuesday saying that Singh had been arrested in Phoenix, but police there had detained a man with a similar name and features who is no longer in custody.
Lataille, 59, was a native of Rhode Island and a U.S. Navy veteran. He had just completed his shift at an Eat’n Park restaurant in Morgantown, W.Va., on the day of the accident.