A commercial truck driver charged with stealing a 2021 red Freightliner and refrigerated trailer in California told the Wyoming Highway Patrol he was “helping a friend” in Chicago while driving away from that destination westbound on Interstate 80.
Amninder Singh, born in 2002, faces a charge of felony theft for allegedly stealing the truck and trailer, together valued at about $80,000, from his former employer, a transport company in the Fresno, California, area, Trooper Ty Beidleman wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Albany County Circuit Court.
He made his first court appearance Thursday, where a preliminary hearing was set for April 29.
The owner of the truck has a GPS tracking device on it, and alerted the Highway Patrol late Tuesday night when he saw the truck was traveling west on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie, the affidavit says.
When a trooper saw a semitrailer matching the description with matching license plates, he pulled Singh over, the affidavit says. That began an interaction with the driver giving accounts that didn’t make much sense.
The first was that he had the truck and trailer because he was “helping a friend” and that he was going to Chicago, the affidavit says. However, he was driving the opposite direction and away from Chicago.
No Printers In Cheyenne
The trooper who stopped him “asked Singh about his travel plans,” the affidavit says. “Singh stated that he was headed to Chicago, IL, from Salinas, CA. He was currently heading in the opposite direction from Chicago.”
The reason for that was he wanted to print out something, Singh reportedly told the trooper.
“He said that he needed to print out some documents, so he was driving to the Maverick in Laramie because there was not a printer at the Flying J in Cheyenne,” the affidavit says.
A call to the Flying J truck stop in Cheyenne confirmed it does not have a printer truckers can use. However, the Love's Travel Stop on the other side of I-25 within sight of the Flying J does.
He was asked “multiple times about why he traveled 50 miles one way to print out a piece of paper, and Singh replied each time by saying that he needed to print out paper, avoiding the question intentionally,” the affidavit adds.
His story was he was going to backtrack to Laramie, print out the paper, then drive on to Chicago, “effectively adding 100 miles to his trip unnecessarily,” the affidavit says.
Troopers spoke to Singh through a translator, the document continues, and he had “changed his story multiple times and avoided answering questions to the point that the translator became frustrated.”
What Singh did tell investigators is that he was transporting cargo for his friend in California to Chicago because his friend’s truck broke down.
“Singh was using the company truck and trailer without permission and acknowledged that he did not have permission,” the affidavit says. “Singh also stated that the owner of the company called him and told him that they had called the police and reported the vehicle as stolen.”
Eventually, Singh admitted that the call from the truck’s owner — not a need to print something — was why he turned around and was heading back west.
If convicted of felony theft, Singh could get a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
