A Community in Mourning: Basketball Coach and Wife Among Victims of Tragic Semi-Truck Crash

The tight-knit community of Pomona, California is reeling from the devastating loss of Clarence Nelson, a 76-year-old assistant basketball coach at Pomona High School, and his wife Lisa Nelson, 69, who were among three victims killed in a catastrophic semi-truck crash in San Bernardino County. The Nelsons, pronounced dead at the scene, were beloved figures whose sudden passing has sent shockwaves through the school district and beyond. State Senator Susan Rubio expressed her condolences in a heartfelt Facebook post, noting that “as a teacher, I know how a loss like this ripples through an entire school community.” The tragedy has deeply affected students, colleagues, and community members who knew the couple, creating a profound void in a community that valued their contributions.

The collision that claimed the Nelsons’ lives was allegedly caused by 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, who authorities report was driving while intoxicated. According to police reports, Singh never applied his brakes before his semi-truck plowed into slow-moving traffic on the I-10 Freeway, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. Dashcam footage captured the horrific moment of impact. Following the crash, Singh was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, with toxicology tests reportedly confirming his impairment at the time of the accident. The violent nature of the collision and its preventable circumstances have only added to the community’s grief and outrage.

Federal sources have identified Singh as an undocumented immigrant from India who entered the United States in 2022 through California’s El Centro Sector. According to these sources, Singh was released into the country’s interior by Border Patrol agents pending an immigration hearing, a detail that has added a political dimension to the tragedy. Following Singh’s arrest for the fatal crash, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly placed an immigration detainer on him, signaling the agency’s intent to take custody should he be released from local authorities. This case has attracted additional scrutiny in the context of ongoing national debates about immigration policy and enforcement priorities.

The incident bears unfortunate similarities to another recent case involving an undocumented immigrant truck driver. In August, Harjinder Singh, who reportedly crossed the southern border illegally in 2018 and later obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, was accused of causing a crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that also resulted in three fatalities. Investigators in that case noted that the driver had failed English-language and road sign tests, raising questions about licensing standards for commercial drivers. These parallel cases have intensified discussions about safety oversight in the commercial trucking industry, particularly regarding language proficiency requirements for drivers operating massive vehicles on American highways.

These tragedies have emerged against a backdrop of federal-state tensions over commercial driver licensing standards. Just prior to the fatal crash, the Trump administration had announced it would withhold more than $40 million in federal highway safety funding from California, citing the state’s failure to comply with federal English-language proficiency standards for truck drivers. This policy dispute highlights broader questions about the balance between state autonomy and federal safety regulations, especially when public safety is at stake. The timing of these accidents has brought renewed attention to these regulatory conflicts, with advocates on various sides pointing to the human cost of policy disagreements.

For the community of Pomona, however, political debates remain secondary to the immediate human tragedy. Clarence Nelson’s role as a basketball coach placed him in a position to mentor and influence countless young people, making his loss particularly poignant for current and former students. Lisa Nelson, too, was mourned as an integral part of the community. As schools like Pomona High grapple with explaining such senseless loss to students and providing appropriate support, the focus remains on honoring the Nelsons’ memory and legacy of service. While the crash has inevitably become entangled in larger political narratives about immigration and highway safety, for those who knew the victims, it remains first and foremost a profound personal tragedy—a reminder of how quickly lives can be shattered and communities forever changed by a single moment of recklessness on the road.