An Oceanside man accused of critically striking a woman with his SUV who was jogging with her daughter in Carlsbad last year pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Joseph Knight, 52, was arrested on May 15 in connection with the jogger’s death. An arrest warrant for vehicular manslaughter had been recently issued for Knight and, during a visit to the Vista courthouse, police officers spotted Knight and alerted deputies, who took him into custody.
According to investigators, Knight was driving a Ford Expedition on Dec. 28, 2014, when, for unknown reasons, he veered onto a sidewalk on Carlsbad Boulevard just north of Tamarack Avenue and hit jogger Nicole Lynch, 51.
Lynch was taken to a local hospital where she soon died from injuries suffered in the crash.
A police report said Knight told investigators he was distracted by his 3-year-old daughter in the back seat at the time of the accident.
Despite an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court and driving on a suspended license, Knight was not arrested after the crash.
A Carlsbad police lieutenant said it’s because the sheriff’s department does not allow booking into jail for certain misdemeanor warrants.
In February, Lynch’s family told NBC 7 they were angry no one had been taken into custody in the deadly accident.
Deputy District Attorney Jared Coleman said Knight is facing three misdemeanor cases, with the most recent being this vehicular manslaughter case and a couple of counts of driving with a suspended license. He was arraigned on all three cases Tuesday.
If convicted on all charges, Knight faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison. He’s currently being held in jail on $25,000 bail.
Knight is slated to appear in court again for a readiness conference on May 25. For now, a June 15 date has been set for his jury trial.
