A Punjabi Sikh truck driver suffered multiple stab wounds when a man attacked him with a knife in the bathroom of a western Wyoming rest stop, authorities say.
The driver told police the man attacked him from behind at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday at the Bitter Creek Rest Area along Interstate 80 east of Rock Springs. The assailant stabbed the man multiple times, including twice each in the neck and chest, according to investigators with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
The crime drew national attention after NPR and other news agencies reported about the attack and the fears it had spurred within the Sikh community amid a national rise in vitriol directed at immigrant truck drivers. The Sikh faith has about 30 million members worldwide, with several hundred thousand adherents in the United States. About 20% of U.S. truckers are Sikhs, according to the North American Punjabi Trucking Association.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe,” said Jasjit Singh, an attorney and director of legal services for Jakara Movement, a California-based organization that supports the Punjabi Sikh community. “I think the fact that this was an unprovoked attack is just a reminder of how dangerous things have gotten for folks as the rhetoric continues to grow.”
Authorities in Sweetwater County say they don’t yet know the motive for the attack. County and Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Erramouspe cautioned against making assumptions about the assailant’s motives at this stage in the investigation.
“I don’t understand the reason why everyone wants to find a motive on this other than to satisfy their own political theories,” he told WyoFile on Friday. “The investigation is still ongoing. We still have a long ways before trial. And so assumptions don’t get anyone further in this case.”
In an interview with NPR, the victim indicated he doesn’t know why he was attacked.
“I don’t know why this happened,” said the man, who NPR identified only by his last name of Singh due to his safety concerns. He is a resident of Sacramento, California.
Witnesses at the rest stop heard sounds of an altercation and then saw a man run from the building and leave in a semi-truck headed east on Interstate 80, according to an affidavit filed by sheriff’s investigators. Those witnesses photographed the semi, which was later located by the Wyoming Highway Patrol in Rawlins. The driver, identified as Andrew Kris Bzdak, was taken into custody.
Prosecutors charged Bzdak with attempted first-degree murder on Monday. Bzdak, a 44-year-old man who lives just east of Los Angeles, is now being held on $1 million bond at the Sweetwater County Detention Center in Rock Springs.
Rhetoric and concern
After the attack, Singh, and a family who also happened to be at the rest stop, called for help. He was later flown to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, where he was treated for 17 lacerations.
He is recovering well, Jasjit Singh told WyoFile in a Friday interview. Jasjit Singh flew to Wyoming earlier in the week to visit the driver as he received treatment in a Casper hospital. He is in good spirits, Jasjit Singh said.
“There’s a concept in the Sikh faith of being in Chardikala — Chardikala refers to being in forever rising spirits, always trying to keep a positive outlook on life. And he had that, right, despite being stabbed 17 times and literally almost losing his life.
“There’s a lot of people who ended up being great people, right? Whether it’s the Latino family that ended up helping him or the troopers who came to his aid or the helicopter that … flew him all the way to Casper.”
The driver Singh has worked as a trucker for nearly four years, and traveling through Wyoming was normal for him, Jasjit Singh said.
“You know, someone asked him, ‘What do you think about Wyoming?’ And he’s like, ‘It’s a beautiful state,’ right? Beautiful place to drive through, calm, quiet. And it’s unfortunate that this is his experience right now.”
In his interview with NPR, the driver Singh said he sensed another man following him as he walked into the restroom. The assailant beat and then stabbed him before fleeing.
Speaking to WyoFile, Jasjit Singh noted that the attack occurred four days after a post on X by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that showed the Transformers’ leader Optimus Prime facing off against a Sikh man. The agency later said that man was Harjinder Singh, a truck driver from India facing felony charges for a crash that killed three people in Florida. “America for Americans. Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh,” the post said.
“And that was top of mind for our community,” said Jasjit Singh, whose own father is a retired trucker who immigrated to the United States and drove through 48 states during a 42-year career. “The day that post came out a lot of people were condemning it and doing other things. But the fear is no [amount] of condemning something like that is going to stop the damage from being done for someone who may use that as a green light to take things into their own hands for whatever purpose, and that’s kind of our fear for that.
“Although they’re saying there’s no motive right now, it’s still unprovoked. And unprovoked, what has caused this person to think that it’s OK to do such an attack?”
Authorities in Sweetwater County told WyoFile they’ve received a slew of recent press inquiries from news outlets in other states since the attack. Erramouspe, the county prosecutor, questioned the motivations of out-of-state outlets focusing on this case, when stabbings were also occurring in their home communities.
“They are trying to make political points, and I’d rather they’d stuck to their own backyard,” he said.
Witnesses and camera footage
A family who was also at the rest stop early Sunday reported the attack to authorities. A woman was using the female restroom at the time, and heard grunting and screaming coming from the men’s restroom, her son told a detective with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. She ran to the family’s vehicle, and a short time later, they saw two people — identified as the suspect and the victim — leave the building.
The suspect, the family told authorities, ran to his truck, which they followed as it headed east on Interstate 80 until they were able to photograph it.
Camera footage from a semi-truck that was parked nearby depicted a scene that resembled the family’s description. A detective who reviewed the footage said Singh casually walked into the bathroom. A short time later, another man could be seen walking to the restroom “in a quick manner,” according to the affidavit.
That man matched a photograph of Bzdak that was later taken by a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper, according to the affidavit.
Soon after, the man that authorities say is Bzdak was recorded running out of the building. Singh was then seen leaving the bathroom. He lost his balance and fell or lost consciousness at least once, according to the affidavit.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe. I think the fact that this was an unprovoked attack is just a reminder of how dangerous things have gotten for folks as the rhetoric continues to grow.”
Jasjit Singh
The sheriff’s affidavit does not offer details about Bzdak’s arrest, nor does it state whether he spoke with investigators after being taken into custody.
The next day, prosecutors charged him with attempted first-degree murder, which carries a penalty of life behind bars. Court records show Bzdak made his initial court appearance in Rock Springs on Thursday.
Bzdak filled out a form that indicated he lived in San Gabriel, California, and had a prior felony conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. Los Angeles County Superior Court records reviewed by WyoFile show that a man with the same name faced that charge in a 2005 case that eventually led to a conviction. The records do not include a description of the crime.
Bzdak is set to next appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 24, court records show.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct one reference to the charges against Andrew Kris Bzdak. —Ed.
I cannot help but wonder how much the political right’s attacks on diversity and this administration’s white supremacy stance has led to incidents like this attack on Mr. Singh.
Ill bet a lot.
What Bzdak (Slavic origin name) is accused of doing is wrong; but this story is more sympathy to Singh than anything else. Is this another Henry Nowak case in the making?
There are plenty of trucking channels (pick your favorite) on YouTube highlighting the pathetic state of the American trucking industry since foreign nationals were allowed to drive big-rigs, and the rise of chameleon carriers. If someone has a Searchcarriers.com account; it would be interesting to know more about the companies both men drove for. It would be interesting to know the immigration status of Singh and Bzdak.
He was stabbed seventeen times, you ghoul
Zero details of the other side of the story, or even what police say happened.
I have one question.
Who’s knife was it?
Expecting both sides of a story from the media, especially Lefty media is like pulling hen’s teeth.
What other side of the story would justify stabbing a guy 17 times?
Your lack of empathy is only because the victim isn’t a white guy
Chuck, you have zero knowledge of the facts of the case.
One side only.
Do you realize that it is a strict tradition of the Sikh religion that males carry a knife (used to be a sword) called a kirpan?
This is why I am wondering who’s knife was used in the stabbing, what started the altercation, etc.
Race has nothing to do with this other than the religious requirements of the alleged “victim”.
Precisely why I wonder if this is another Henry Nowak case in the making. The UK cops treated Nowak as the perpetrator when he was the victim that bled to death in front of the cops.
Henry was white, and the killer is a Sikh that is now in prison once the truth came out. The killer’s mother is in prison for aiding and abetting her son after the fact, and his brother might be too for lying to the cops on scene regarding what happened.
There is more to the Wyoming case that isn’t known.
Yes, why won’t someone speak up for the poor man credibly accused of attempted murder?
Tom: “credibly accused”???
What are you basing that on, and does the concept of innocent until proven guilty still exist in America?
Is “credibly accused” a legal term?
Also, was the knife used in the stabbing a kirpan?
Nevermind, you wouldnt know, as no details have been released by authorities.
Multiple eyewitnesses and camera footage. Did you even read the article?
Oh someone will come along, or maybe he can claim depression.
Let’s be honest. The Sikh truck drivers have EARNED their reputation. They are the most ticketed for safety and motor carrier violations second only to Mexican nationals. Most don’t read English and don’t obey traffic laws well. Ask any DOT cop. If that community is worried, perhaps they should make an effort.
Justifying a guy getting stabbed multiple times because of stereotypes about bad driving..
You’re delusional
Im not justifying anything, I’m simply pointing out facts the article is purposely masking to play the sympathy card over race.
Racism is disgusting
My experience with truck drivers dating back before the “explosion of foreign drivers” was that many English speaking truck drivers could not read or write. Literacy among truck drivers is not a new problem.
I used to hitchhike a lot 1969-1985 , and often rode shotgun in the cab of a semi . If you knew how to get a ride from inside the trucker community at the big truckstops it was a reliable way to go places . Basically , make yourself useful and amenable.
Here’s the thing : When hitching thru the Deep South of our own America, I encountered a surprising number of truckers ( independents) who were illiterate. Could not read nor write plain American English beyond scratching numbers in a log book and signing their names by rote. Big words , long names , a page of text , even maps (!) were a struggle. I also encountered a lot of dyslexic drivers. That part about getting rides and ameniability was me doing the sign reading , navigation , and interpretation along the way. And a lot of loading/unloading. The owner-operators were incredibly skilled drivers and mechanics , and no pun intended ‘ streetwise ‘. They just never finished K-12 school. Or even the 6th grade.
I never finished college. Five semesters in classrooms was enough . The 100,000 miles of open road by thumbing, good signage , or working the truckstop lines was a much better real world higher education. Truckers showed me huge swatch of America ( and Canada and almost all of Mexico ) that I would have never seen or experiences otherwise. My contribution was to help them along the way. Mexican truckers before and after NAFTA were especially conducive, and much more fun .
If you blindly believe that truck drivers who don’t speak read or write English are are unsafe and unworthy and be banished from the highways, you would be on the wrong side of road reality. I find a lot of the arguments on this topic – especially from the likes of Harriet Hageman and her tribe – to be specious at best. The politicians are the illiterates, actually.