The family of a truck driver—arrested by provincial police and accused of refusing to allow his 18-wheeler to be towed during the closure of Highway 13 during the big storm last week, when hundreds were stranded overnight—says we have it all wrong.
Provincial police arrested Palwinder Singh Johal at his Laval home early Saturday. He was handed over to police custody in Kingston, Ont., where a warrant was out for his arrest.
He spent the night behind bars but was released Sunday, and now he and his family are contesting that he is to blame for the bottlenecking on the highway that led to people being stranded, in some cases, for 13 hours during the blizzard.
The family of the 57-year-old truck driver have denied Johal ever refused to have his truck towed, and are offering the receipt and credit card charged for it as proof. Witnesses and sources familiar with the situation that night have said truck drivers refused to have their vehicles towed Tuesday night until about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Not only was he compliant, but Johal's son, Paramjit, says Johal's truck wasn't at the front of the pack and was actually several back from the first stuck 18-wheeler.
Paramjit, himself a trucker, published live videos from the closed highway to his Facebook just before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night. His father is seen in the footage.
The Quebec Trucking Association has said repeatedly police are using the truckers as scapegoats for the entire debacle.