Fresno, California: Police Chief Apologizes to Council Candidate After Drug Test Comes Back Negative

Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto issued a public apology to City Council candidate Naindeep Singh at a news conference late on Tuesday, October 27, after the police laboratory reported that there were no drugs in his system. Singh had been arrested late on Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug.

Casto said she received a verbal advisement from the laboratory on Tuesday that Singh's toxicology results were negative. She said she had called Singh shortly before the news conference to apologize to him personally.

The stop and the arrest

According to Singh, the stop began over his vehicle registration tags, which he said had been ripped off his car. He said he showed the officer documents to prove his registration was up to date. Singh said he passed the breath test officers gave him, and officers then took him to Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno, where his blood was drawn for the toxicology test.

Singh said he was not booked into jail. He was released with two citations, one for driving with unregistered tags and one for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs. At a news conference on Monday night, Singh shared the results of an independent toxicology report he had requested on the night of his arrest. That report also showed no drugs in his system, and he said he expected the police report to clear him as well.

Two news conferences in one day

Earlier on Tuesday, before the laboratory results came back, Casto had held a separate news conference in which she said her officer had done the right thing by arresting Singh. She said Singh had failed six of the eight indicator tests of sobriety during the stop.

By late Tuesday the department's own test had come back negative, and the chief returned to the cameras to apologize. As of Monday afternoon, the police department had not submitted a police report or charges to the Fresno County District Attorney's Office for review, according to a spokesperson for that office. A filing decision was expected to wait for the toxicology report.

One week before Election Day

Singh is running for the District 1 seat on the Fresno City Council. He is also a member of the Central Unified School District board and the executive director of the nonprofit Jakara Movement. He finished first in the June primary for the council seat but did not receive enough votes to win the seat outright, so the race will be decided in the election that concludes on November 3.

His opponent, Rob Fuentes, called on Singh to drop out of the race in a campaign message early on Monday. Fuentes later told ABC30 that he was stopping short of that request until the toxicology results came back. More than 100 residents, elected officials, candidates and community organizers attended Singh's Monday news conference to show support. Singh was scheduled to hold his own news conference later on Tuesday to address the chief's update.