Semi-truck driver held on ICE detainer after 4 killed in head-on crash

The driver of a semi-truck at the center of a multi-vehicle crash that left four dead in Indiana is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him.

Indiana State Police said the fatal crash happened Tuesday around 4 p.m. in the area of State Road 67 and County Road 550 East in Jay County, where the truck collided with a van. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that driver Bekzhan Beishekeev is a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One cell phone app on Dec. 19, 2024, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, and he was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration.

Beishekeev, 30, was reportedly driving on SR 67 in Indiana when he didn’t stop for another slowed semi-truck, swerving instead into oncoming traffic and crashing head-on into a van, killing four people, several of whom were reportedly Amish.

“The investigation shows that a 2019 International semi tractor trailer, driven by Gert Pretoruis (44) of Geneva, was traveling east on State Road 67 near County Road 550 East when it slowed down for traffic,” Indiana State Police said.  “A 2022 Freightliner semi tractor trailer, driven by Bekzhan Beishekeev (30) of Philadelphia, PA, that was also eastbound did not stop and swerved into the westbound lane hitting a 2011 Chevrolet van that was driven by Donald Stipp (55) of Portland.”

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Indiana State Police, citing the Jay County Coroner’s Office, identified the four victims killed in the collision as Henry Eicher, 50, Menno Eicher, 25, Paul Eicher, 19, and Simon Girod, 23 of Bryant, Ind. 

“ICE issued an immigration detainer against Beishekeev with the Jay County Jail on Feb. 4. And, because the state of Indiana cooperates with ICE, we were able to take him into custody on the morning of February 5,” DHS said in a statement. “He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.”

“Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday,” added DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads. These sanctuary governors must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed.”

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State Police also said, “The Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is working with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Department, and Jay County Coroner’s Office to complete this investigation.”

A GoFundMe page purportedly set up by a family member of Stipp’s said he is in stable condition and underwent surgery for a broken arm. 

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The page at one point described Stipp as “still unconscious” at a hospital. 

Fox News’ Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.