Four Amish men were killed Tuesday in northeastern Indiana after a semitruck crossed the center line and struck a passenger van head-on, according to state police and federal officials.
The crash occurred when a 2022 Freightliner semitruck driven by Bekzhan Beishekeev, 30, failed to stop for slowed traffic, swerved into oncoming lanes, and collided with a westbound Chevrolet van. Indiana State Police said the victims suffered fatal blunt-force trauma.
Killed in the crash were Henry Eicher, 50, his sons Menno Eicher, 25, and Paul Eicher, 19, and family friend Simon Girod, 23, all from the Amish community in Bryant, Indiana. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, while Girod died later at the hospital.
The van’s driver, Donald Stipp, 55, underwent emergency surgery and remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. A fifth passenger was also injured and is being treated at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
Beishekeev and another truck driver involved in the traffic slowdown were not injured, authorities said.
Federal officials later confirmed that Beishekeev is a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the United States on Dec. 19, 2023, through the Biden administration’s CBP One parole program at the Nogales, Arizona port of entry. He was paroled into the country under humanitarian authority and later obtained a commercial driver’s license in Pennsylvania.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday that Beishekeev is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will remain detained pending immigration proceedings. He was initially arrested on a bench warrant related to prior court obligations, not directly for the crash.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the incident during a briefing Thursday, saying the victims were killed by a driver who had been paroled into the country through the CBP One program.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Beishekeev’s parole and subsequent licensing raised broader enforcement concerns.
“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,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
According to industry reporting by FreightWaves, the semitruck involved in the crash was operated by Sam Express Inc., a Kyrgyzstani-owned interstate freight carrier based in Palatine, Illinois. The company is reportedly linked to a suspected “chameleon carrier” network—an arrangement in which multiple trucking authorities share drivers, equipment, and management while operating under separate federal registrations.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration defines chameleon carriers as high-risk operators that shift registrations to avoid enforcement actions. The Government Accountability Office has previously found such carriers are significantly more likely to be involved in serious crashes than legitimate operators.
Indiana State Police’s Critical Incident Reconstruction Team continues to investigate the crash. Federal regulators are also reviewing the trucking company’s compliance history and operational structure.
