Josh Klinghoffer, previously known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, will avoid jail time for his involvement in a 2024 vehicular crash in Alhambra, California, which led to the death of a pedestrian.
Reports indicate that Klinghoffer, at the age of 45, entered a plea of no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. As a result, the court sentenced him to a year of informal probation and 60 days of community labor. Furthermore, he is mandated to attend a driver safety class, pay court-ordered restitution, and adhere to an additional 12-month probationary period.
A lawsuit filed by the family of the deceased, 47-year-old Israel Sanchez, alleges that Klinghoffer was driving distractedly at the time of the fatal incident. The lawsuit references a video recorded at the time of the incident, which reportedly shows the aftermath of the crash. In the video, the driver can be seen exiting the vehicle and remaining at the scene until authorities arrived.
Klinghoffer’s legal counsel, Andrew Brettler, does not dispute his client’s presence at the scene, calling it a “tragic accident” and affirming that Klinghoffer cooperated fully with investigators. “After the car struck the pedestrian, Josh immediately pulled over, stopped the vehicle, called 911, and waited until police and the ambulance arrived,” Brettler stated.
The lawsuit also alleges that Klinghoffer was driving a black 2022 GMC Yukon with absent license plates at the time of the crash. The lawsuit contains a still image from the video, purportedly showing the driver engaging with a cellphone or a similar device just moments before the collision.
The lawsuit presents the sequence of events leading up to the tragedy, stating that Sanchez had stopped at the corner and had ensured the oncoming traffic had cleared before proceeding. He had reportedly taken eight steps within the marked pedestrian crosswalk before he was struck, suffering blunt force trauma and succumbing to his injuries less than three hours later at a hospital.
