A caregiver fatally shot by Irvine police earlier this month after he was accused of stabbing to death his former client was fired in 2021 because he was a methamphetamine addict, a close friend of the victim said on Thursday, August 15.
On Aug. 5, Aaron Shindle crashed his minivan into the home of John Bash III, police said, before entering the house and fatally stabbing Bash, who had been paralyzed in an accident in 2015 and was in a wheelchair. An hour later, police confronted Shindle less than a mile away from the home and fatally shot him, they said, when he approached an officer with a knife.
Irvine Sgt. Karie Davies said Shindle was fired in 2021 due to several unexplained absences, as Bash’s family had told police.
Joe Nazarian, one of Bash’s closest friends and his accident attorney, said in an interview Thursday that Bash, 38, told him he had to let Shindle go after he discovered that Shindle was addicted to methamphetamine. In a testament to his character, Nazarian said, Bash helped Shindle, 47, get into a rehabilitation program. Afterwards, Bash cut ties with Shindle.
Davies said that officers didn’t discover drugs in the car or on Shindle, and a toxicology report that would be needed to show whether he was intoxicated during the attack would not be available for a couple of months.
Davies also said that Shindle was heading to Florida to check himself into rehab, according to Shindle’s family. It is not known when Shindle told them this, or if he had ever reached Florida.
Shindle’s family could not be reached for comment.
Nazarian was around Shindle often, since he accompanied Bash to parties, dinners and other events. According to him, Shindle “rubbed some of Johnny’s friends the wrong way” but was never rude, didn’t yell, or have any other issues with people in Bash’s life.
“He always seemed a little bit off, but he didn’t seem evil,” Nazarian said about Shindle. “He seemed docile.”
Nazarian was with Bash about an hour before his death, after they had earlier celebrated a friend’s birthday in San Diego.
“We joked, we laughed, we had fun,” Nazarian said. “I’m super blessed to have that last evening with him.”
Detectives are still unsure of what exactly prompted Shindle to target Bash.
Nazarian and other friends of Bash are still reeling from the loss and unable to make sense of why it happened. Bash helmed a vacation company and another that built swimming pools and outdoor areas, and his social media accounts were full of photos of him partying with friends.
“Everything in his life was going well,” Nazarian said. “Johnny was robbed.”
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