The Oregon State Police (OSP) arrested a commercial truck driver for DUII and other traffic-related offenses Friday afternoon following a citizen’s driving complaint on Interstate 84 east of La Grande. The driver’s blood alcohol content level was more than seven times the legal limit (.04) for commercial truck drivers in Oregon, and it was the second time the driver was arrested for DUII in the last three days.
On Friday, June 6, 2014, OSP dispatch was notified of a driving complaint about a commercial truck pulling a semi-trailer traveling westbound on Interstate 84 near milepost 278. The report indicated the truck driver was swerving between lanes and varying its speed. Trooper Dan Routt responded from the La Grande area and contacted the reporting person via cell phone, who kept the trooper updated on the truck’s location.
Near milepost 275, the truck and trailer drove off of the freeway into a ditch, damaging two fog markers. After briefly stopping, it continued westbound as the trooper located the 2014 Peterbilt truck near milepost 273 and attempted to stop it. The driver, Sukhvir Singh Deol, 41, from Surrey, British Columbia, failed to yield for a mile and a half as it continued to swerve between lanes. The driver finally stopped near milepost 271.
When the trooper approached the truck’s cab, Deol went into the truck’s sleeper berth for a brief time before emerging to speak. Subsequent investigation led to his arrest for DUII, reckless driving, failure to perform the duties of a driver involving in property damage crash, and failure to carry and present a license. He was also cited for failure to drive within a single lane and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
Deol had been arrest on DUII charges just three days earlier by a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper in Sweetwater County, Wyo., for alleged drunk driving while operating a commercial truck.
