He was to be arraigned on May 29 but that was continued by Magistrate Andrew Hasselbach until a person who could translate Punjabi was located to assist him in court. Punjabi is a native language spoken mainly in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.
Hasselbach continued Singh’s bond at $250,000 and is being held in the Warren County Jail. A no contact order was made as a condition of bail, according to court records. The court also assigned John Kaspar represent Singh.
On April 25, Singh allegedly entered the car in which Chance Blue and his sister, Skylar Weaver, sat in the backseat. Their grandmother, Nita Coburn, 69, of Middletown, had gotten out of the car to help their aunt into the hospital’s emergency room.
The incident received wide attention at the time because the grandmother was dragged by the car as she tried to save the children, and the 8-year-old boy helped his 10-year-old sister escape the moving car.
Singh acknowledged he knew there were two children in the car and that he resisted the grandmother’s attempts to open the car door before taking off at a high rate of speed out of the parking area near the Atrium Medical Center parking lot, according to a Middletown police report.
Chance initially thought the man might have been a valet at the hospital because he got into the front seat of the running car. After the children escaped from the car, Singh took off in the car but was quickly apprehended by two Middletown patrol officers.
MORE: How a Middletown 8-year-old helped save his sister and became ‘a hero’
Middletown police Chief Rodney Muterspaw called Chance “a hero” for his quick actions that saved himself and his sister from the attempted carjacking.
“This little guy is a hero,” Muterspaw said. “No question. He pulled his sister out of the car with no concern for his own safety.”
VIDEO: Girl escapes carjacking by jumping from moving vehicle
Both children were recognized May 15 by state Sens. William Coley, R-Liberty Twp. and Steve Wilson, R-Maineville, in the Ohio Senate chambers at the Statehouse in Columbus.
“Heroes come in all sizes,” Coley said as the children were recognized in the Ohio Senate chambers at the Statehouse in Columbus.
Coley said he was also proud of the quick action by Middletown police in arresting the suspect.
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