Highway 401 chase suspect was out on bail, charged with string of robberies

The Star has confirmed Singh was behind the wheel of the U-Haul on April 29 that slammed into a semi-trailer truck on the highway. Singh was pronounced dead at the scene.

The passenger in the van, Manpreet Gill, 38, remains in hospital and has not been charged in relation to the crash, according to the lawyer who represented him when he faced previous charges.

The crash killed Manivannan Srinivasapillai, 60, Mahalakshmi Ananthakrishnan, 55, and their three-month-old grandson, Aditya Vivaan. The boy’s parents, who survived the crash, held a small service for the older couple Monday. A service for their son is scheduled for later this week.

According to the release order signed by a Hamilton justice of the peace on Singh’s previous charges, he was to remain with a named surety, who pledged $2,000 to secure his release, and was ordered not to go to any LCBO or Home Depots in the province. He had been scheduled to appear in court again on May 14.

Singh’s criminal history has led to outcry from some, including federal Conservative party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who say a stronger bail system could have prevented the deaths. But those who argue bail in court say the releases appear to have been reasonable, given what was known at the time.

“The law demands that only those who are at a substantial risk of committing new crimes should be denied bail,” said Toronto criminal defence lawyer Daniel Brown. “And people are released every day on bail terms and comply with those bail terms and are, in many cases, ultimately acquitted of the charges that they’ve been accused of.”

Despite the tragic outcome of the crash, Brown, said it’s not surprising Singh was released on bail for “relatively minor” offences prior to the fatal collision.

Toronto criminal defence lawyer Jordana Goldlist agreed, noting jails are currently beyond capacity, with a record number of people being held in custody ahead of trial.

“The jails are bursting at the seams,” she said.

“From a procedural point of view, it makes sense,” she said of being released on charges like those Singh had faced. “But from a policy perspective, our criminal justice system is founded on the notion that someone is innocent until the Crown proves them guilty.”

The Star tried to piece together both men’s criminal history, contacting courts across the GTA for records of possible offences.

Court records obtained for Singh show he had been charged with a series of crimes, starting with a theft under $5,000 from a Home Depot in Milton on Jan. 15, followed by a robbery in which he was said to have used violence against a named victim. A LinkedIn profile with the same name listed that person as an LCBO store manager.

Those charges were followed by two more: theft under $5,000 from an LCBO in Burlington on Jan. 28, two days later, and theft under $5,000 from a Home Depot in Milton on Feb. 27.

All those charges were outstanding at the time of his death.

Gill, the passenger in the U-Haul, was also out on bail for seven charges of possession of property obtained by crime, court records showed. Prior to the collision, he had been scheduled to appear in court on those charges on May 6. The SIU previously said he was sent to hospital with “serious injuries.”

The courts have not yet provided details of those charges or his bail conditions.

In 2022, Toronto police charged Gill in two separate incidents — one for auto theft and another for possessing a different stolen vehicle. Court records show Gill plead guilty to the auto theft charge and had his other charge withdrawn in October 2023.

On Monday, Ayesha Abbasi, Gill’s defence lawyer, said that he had not been charged in connection to the Highway 401 crash or the earlier robbery, and that police had not informed her of his current condition.

The Star has also confirmed the licence plate attached to the U-Haul involved in the fatal highway crash — according to radio calls of Ontario Provincial Police dispatches posted online — was listed by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation records as “unattached/missing/suspended.” It was previously assigned to a grey RAM pickup truck and then removed in 2017. It has not since been registered to another vehicle, meaning the plate appears to have not been properly assigned to the cube van.

Among the surviving victims of the crash are Gokulnath Manivannan, 33, and Ashwitha Jawahar, 27, parents of the three-month-old killed in the collision. In a statement released Sunday, Manivannan spoke of the pain the family has felt since his parents’ and child’s deaths.

“We are at a complete loss of words to describe the agony and vacuum in our hearts knowing we can never hold our child Aditya Vivaan, who gave us so many precious memories in such a short time, in our hands again,” he wrote.

The couple are still healing from physical injuries sustained in the crash, for which Jawahar required surgeries.

The actions of Durham Regional Police officers, who chose to pursue Singh with six police vehicles in the wrong direction on Highway 401, OPP audio indicates, despite a senior officer calling off the chase, according to one internal report, are currently under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario’s civilian police watchdog.

The SIU said Monday its investigation continues with gathering evidence, analyzing video footage and conducting interviews.