Man Who Fled to India After Fatal Hit-and-Run Arrested Wednesday

A man who fled to India after allegedly pushing a woman out of a car and running her over in Sunnyvale in March returned to the U.S. and was arrested Wednesday, public safety officials said today.

Pawanjit Singh, 25, of San Jose, was wanted for the death of Jennifer Flores, a 28-year-old woman who was found on March 25 in the 1300 block of Socorro Avenue suffering from severe injuries, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

Flores was taken to a hospital and died a short time later.

Investigators determined that Flores had been a passenger in a car driven by Singh, who pushed her out of the vehicle and then ran her over with it. The two were apparently acquaintances, Sunnyvale Capt. David Verbrugge said.

Singh was found to have boarded a flight to India via Dubai the following day, and over the past several weeks investigators worked with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and Singh's attorney to convince him to return to the U.S.

The department then received word Wednesday morning that Singh had boarded a plane and was expected to land at San Francisco International Airport that evening. When the plane landed, Singh was taken into custody without incident, public safety officials said.

Verbrugge said, "We don't know what role the attorney or family had" in convincing Singh to return to the U.S., but said that he apparently came back willingly.

Singh was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday morning.

—By Dan McMenamin, Bay City News Service