Driver in fatal crash remains jailed; fundraisers form supporting victim’s family
April 15, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiThe driver of the tractor-trailer in Thursday’s fatal crash on Vermont Route 100 in Moretown has pleaded not guilty to a negligent driving charge and remains in custody with bail set at $150,000.
Meanwhile friends of the victim in the crash have organized online fundraising sites to assist her family including her husband and young daughter. As of Monday morning, those efforts had so far collected over $76,000.
The crash happened just before 7 a.m. on Thursday when Satnam Singh was headed south on Rt. 100 with a load of bagged mulch headed to Bisbee’s Hardware store in Waitsfield, according to court documents.
According to state police investigators, Singh’s 18-wheeler veered into the opposite lane where it crashed head-on with a Subaru Crosstrek driven by 39-year-old Rosetta Weber of Waitsfied.
Weber died at the scene of the accident. Singh was injured and taken to Central Vermont Hospital. After being treated, Singh was released into police custody and was arrested on a felony charge of negligent operation with death resulting. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. He was ordered held at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury Thursday night and remains there since a court hearing on Friday afternoon.
The crash, resulting investigation and clearing of the roadway resulted in Rt. 100 being closed for about 10 hours on Thursday.
Satnam Singh, Vermont State Police photo
Singh appeared via video from jail for the arraignment in Vermont Superior Court in Barre. He appeared to have a reddened right eye and a strap across one shoulder possibly holding a sling or bandage. His lawyer did not return a message asking about his injuries from the crash before this report was published.
An affidavit filed with the court by Vermont State Police Trooper Robert Lemnah includes details about the crash investigation and information from a drug recognition expert from the Lyondonville Police Department who evaluated Singh at the hospital soon after the crash.The examiner’s notes mention Singh having an arm/shoulder injury. The examiner concluded that Singh was not impaired, according to the report.
Lemnah’s affidavit includes details from two eyewitnesses to Singh driving the tractor-trailer prior to the crash. One was motorist Mathew Bailey who was behind the tractor-trailer when it went through the roundabout and Main Street in Waterbury. Lemnah said Bailey described the truck traveling 5-10 mph under the 25 mph speed limit on Main Street. Lemnah said Bailey noticed the tractor-trailer cross the center line several times as they continued south – near Snowfire Auto and the intersection of Rt. 100 and U.S. Route 2, and again near Crossett Brook Middle School. “This caused several cars to swerve into the break down lane to avoid collision,” Lemnah wrote. “Bailey said he then decided to pass the defendant because he didn’t feel comfortable driving behind the defendant.”
The other witness Lemnah interviewed was school bus driver Kelly Poulin who described leaving Crossett Brook Middle School heading south on Rt. 100 with several vehicles between her bus and the tractor-trailer. Multiple vehicles passed the big rig which was driving very slowly up several hills along the route, Poulin told police.
“Poulin stated as they began coming down hill headed towards Harwood Union High School the defendant’s driving became erratic. Poulin said as the defendant began swerving in his lane. The defendant also crossed the center line to various degrees at least three times before reaching the crash scene,” Lemnah wrote in his affidavit.
The site of the crash is just south of the entry to Harwood high school near the intersection with Ward Hill Road. Poulin’s account says she witnessed the crash, only realizing afterward that the truck had collided with another vehicle. “She advised she never saw the defendant hit his brakes and went straight into the turn. Poulin advised she saw the defendant crash and didn’t see he had hit another vehicle until the dust and debris had settled,” Lemnah wrote.
Interviewed at the hospital, Singh told police that Weber was “driving too fast” coming around a bend in the road and that the Subaru hit his vehicle.
Lemnah wrote that information from the Subaru’s data recorder indicated it was traveling 38 mph five seconds before impact and had slowed to 23 mph at the time of the crash. It also indicated a sharp steering maneuver to the right, Lemnah noted. “This would be consistent with Weber making an evasive maneuver to avoid collision,” he described.
Police shared that information with Singh, Lemnah said. “When the defendant was confronted with roadway evidence and witness statements that were contrary of his statement he denied being the cause of the crash and maintained his narrative,” the affidavit states.
Hearing focuses on bail requirement
For about two years, the 24-year-old truck driver’s home has been in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, which became the focus of discussion between Judge John Pacht and lawyers for both Singh and the state at Friday’s court appearance.
Defense attorney Andrew Pappone entered a not guilty plea for his client who was assisted by an online interpreter translating the proceeding in real time from English spoken in the courtroom to Punjabi.
Pappone said Singh has a wife in Canada and a brother in California who runs the trucking company he drives for. Singh’s family members were “shocked to hear of what has happened here in Vermont,” Pappone said, adding that they were willing to do what is necessary to have him released, but that they “certainly are of limited means.”
If the court was concerned about Singh leaving the U.S. and returning to Canada while released, Pappone offered that his client could remain in California while awaiting further court proceedings. Pappone requested that the court reduce Singh’s bail to $5,000, saying that his client’s family could likely afford that sum but it would be important to get back, making it very likely that Singh would follow instructions to make court appearances.
Assistant Washington County State’s Attorney Talon Wendel disagreed and urged Judge Pacht to keep the $150,000 bail requirement made on Thursday. “Mr. Singh’s only connection in the United States is in California. There is no connection to Vermont. If Mr. Singh does return to Canada, that’s outside of our jurisdiction,” he said. “Extradiction would cause significant delays.”
Judge Pacht concluded that the did not have enough information to support changing the bail requirements yet.
“In this case where Mr. Singh has no previous record of which we’re aware but is charged with a very serious crime – he has no roots in this area, indeed frankly in this country – and the court is unclear of eactly how deep the roots are in Canada,” he said. “So there are a number of things that the court would want to consider if in fact it were conserving a bail significantly lower than that requested by the state.”
Pacht said he would likely want Singh to turn in his passport to the court clerk and it would need information about Singh’s family members’ finances regarding bail. “We would need to know circumstances of where he would live,” he continued, adding that research on extradition would also be needed.
“Ultimately, the state would want to be looking at even if he eventually does go to Canada, if there’s any reason he could leave Canada and go back to where he is from, and evaluate the risk of him leaving the entire area,” Pacht said. “These are all very strong risk-of-flight concerns.”
Pacht acknowledged that Singh’s lack of any prior criminal record and that he is employed with family in the U.S. are worth considering in determining the next steps. “The court is open to reconsidering its bail decisions today,” he said, emphasizing that would require more information and a longer hearing time on the court schedule.
Singh was ordered to remain held with bail set at $150,000.
In an email after the hearing, Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly confirmed that Singh’s country of origin is India.
Friends launch fundraisers
Over the weekend, Waterbury Roundabout received word of two online fundraisers begun by friends of both Rosetta “Zetty” Weber who lost her life in the crash and of her husband Parker Weber. Both are on the GoFundMe platform and acknowledge the other.
Rosetta “Zetty” Weber with her young daughter, courtesy of a fundraiser site supporting her family.
“With this GoFundMe fundraiser, we hope to provide some relief to the immediate and long-term financial needs of Zetty’s family. We also hope that this financial support can be a simple expression of the immense love and admiration we all held for Rosetta,” states the message on the site led by friend Anne Grady Hartnett. As of Monday morning, the page had received 327 donations totaling nearly $37,000. It notes that there is a parallel site started by other friends and that “both campaigns are legitimate and all dollars raised will go directly to their family.”
Likewise, the other GoFundMe site organized by friends of Parker Weber, David Vuono and Nick Votto, as of Monday morning had collected just over $39,000 from 338 donations since Friday. Their page describes their friend as “the heartbeat of her family, the light in her parents' eyes, and the love of her husband Parker and their three-year-old daughter… Zetty was a beacon of compassion and vitality.”
Funds raised would assist Weber’s husband in providing for their daughter’s future, the friends write. They also acknowledge the other campaign saying, “Please donate to either – funds will end up in the same place.”