Coroner identifies 80-year-old golf cart driver killed in country club crash

A golf cart driver was struck and killed at an intersection at Mountain Vista Golf Club in Sun City in Palm Desert this week.

May 10, 2024, 10:46am PDT

PALM DESERT, CA – The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau identified an 80-year-old man killed in a golf cart accident Tuesday.

According to the coroner’s report, 80-year-old Sam Karagavoorian of Palm Desert was pronounced dead at Desert Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained in the crash.

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At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, California Highway Patrol officers arrived at the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Mojave Sage Street where a vehicle and a golf cart collided at a private country club complex.

The accident was initially described by emergency responders as a “serious injury,” said CHP Officer David Torres. “Only later did it emerge that it was a death.”

By the time officers arrived at the intersection at the private country club community, Karagavoorian had already been transported to Desert Regional Medical Center, according to Torres.

The driver of the vehicle remained at the intersection and cooperated with authorities, Torres said, adding that initial investigative results did not indicate that drugs or alcohol were involved.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Indio CHP office at 760-772-5300.