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David Crosby Settles Lawsuit: Rocker Will Pay $3 Million To Jogger He Hit With His Car

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 03:34 PST, Jun 21, 2016

David Crosby has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a jogger he hit with his car last year. According to Cal Coast News, Crosby will pay out $3 million to Jose Luquin Jimenez and his teen son after hitting the jogger with his Tesla last year while driving on a road in California’s wine country.

The lawsuit filed by Luquin’s attorney, James McKiernan, claimed David Crosby had ingested “alcohol and/or prescription drugs and/or non-prescription drugs and/or other intoxicants and hallucinogens” before getting behind the wheel. But TMZ reported that Crosby told responding officers he had not been drinking before getting behind the wheel. An officer at the scene reportedly determined alcohol was not a factor in the crash, and there was no further investigation into drug or alcohol use.

David Crosby was reportedly driving 55 miles per hour in a black Ford Tesla when the accident occurred on Baseline Avenue in Santa Ynez, California, in March 2015. The 74-year-old Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young singer told officers he had been blinded by the glare of the setting sun and did not see the joggers on the road. While David Crosby was driving the speed limit at the time of the accident, officers determined the rock legend was driving at an unsafe speed considering the lack of visibility.

Luquin, 46, was jogging with his 14-year-old son at the time that he was struck by David’s car, and he ultimately suffered a broken leg, arm, and shoulder and also damaged a kidney. The accident report revealed that the collision cracked Crosby’s windshield, broke his right side mirror, dented the right rear door, cracked the front bumper, and dented the right front fender of the Tesla.

A few days after the accident occurred, CNN posted the audio recording of David Crosby’s 911 call in which the rock star sounded extremely distraught as he asked for help.

“We need an ambulance right now,” Crosby told the California Highway Patrol, before pleading for medical help for the injured man. “I need an ambulance, man. Ambulance. Fast!”

California Highway Patrol Spokesman Don Clotworthy said Crosby was “cooperative with authorities and he was not impaired or intoxicated in any way.”

Michael Jensen, a spokesman for the rock star, released a statement shortly after the accident, revealing that the rock legend was relieved to hear the victim was doing okay.

“David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone. And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life threatening,” said the Crosby spokesman. “He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery.”

More than one year later, David Crosby is giving Luquin a lot more than warm wishes. As part of his settlement, David Crosby will pay $2,950,000 to Luquin and $50,000 to Luquin’s son.

David Crosby’s decision to settle the lawsuit is not surprising. Luquin’s attorney, James McKiernan, has been involved in a number of high-profile celebrity cases, including Mel Gibson’s sexual harassment case, Paris Hilton’s sex tape case, and a case in which Michael Jackson demanded the critical care unit of Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria be reserved exckusively for him after he became ill.

David Crosby is a founding member of classic rock groups the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and he is also a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While his days with CSNY are reportedly done — a feud with co-founder Graham Nash appears to be irreparable — Crosby is expected to release two new solo albums later this year.

You can listen to David Crosby’s frantic 911 call in the video below.

[Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for LUTB]

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