LOS ANGELES – Josh Klinghoffer, guitarist for Pearl Jam and previously the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is being sued for wrongful death and negligence after being accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian earlier this year.
Klinghoffer was distracted by a cellphone while he was behind the wheel of an SUV that struck and killed 47-year-old Israel Sanchez March 18, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.
The man’s daughter, Ashley Sanchez, filed the lawsuit, according to NBC News.
Sanchez was on his way to a grocery store to make soup for his family in Alhambra, California. As he was walking in a crosswalk near Meridian Avenue and West Main Street, Klinghoffer hit him with his 2022 GMC Yukon with no license plates, the lawsuit says.
“I haven’t recovered,” Ashley Sanchez told ABC 7. “It’s a daily basis that I break down, and it’s hard when you’re a single mom, trying to be ok and show them you’re fine, but in reality, it’s eating you alive. I want him to be held accountable. I want there to be awareness. It’s not the first incident that’s happened in that intersection.”
The guitarist’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, released a statement calling the incident a “tragic accident.”
“After the car struck the pedestrian, Josh immediately pulled over, stopped the vehicle, called 911, and waited until police and the ambulance arrived. He is fully cooperating with the traffic investigation,” Brettler said.
Sanchez family attorney Nick Rowley said in a statement that Klinghoffer “should be arrested and prosecuted for homicide.”
Klinghoffer is currently on tour with the band Pearl Jam.