Josh Klinghoffer, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janes Addition, Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop and Morrissey will be arraigned tomorrow in a California courthouse for a March 18th car accident that left a pedestrian dead.
Josh Klinghoffer to be arraigned
Klinghoffer is expected to be arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. It has come to light that the arraignment and plea is set for tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. PT at the Alhambra, California, Courthouse.
Court records noted that on March 18 Klinghoffer was driving a Black 2022 GMC Yukon when the vehicle struck 47-year-old pedestrian Israel Sanchez at a crosswalk in Alhambra. Struck in the back, Sanchez was pronounced dead at the Huntington Hospital later that day at 5:28 pm.
Ashley Sanchez had filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the guitarist. The lawsuit alleged Israel Sanchez “was thrown and/or dragged across the asphalt where he sustained blunt force trauma to the head, and lay on the pavement until medical transport arrived” after being hit by an SUV with no license plate at a crosswalk on March 18.
“Video of the incident shows that defendant Josh Adam Klinghoffer made no braking or slowing motion until after he fatally struck Israel Sanchez, indicating that (he) was likely driving while distracted,” the lawsuit states, adding that the guitarist was allegedly “using a device mere seconds before he crashed into (Israel Sanchez).”
Attorneys for Ashley Sanchez, the only child of victim Israel Sanchez, had filed a wrongful death and negligence suit against Klinghoffer, saying, in part, that the guitarist was likely distracted at the time of the crash. Klinghoffer has been on release on his own recognizance.