A 23-year-old Goleta man was killed Sunday afternoon in a vehicle crash on a dirt road along the ridge of the Santa Ynez Mountains, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Emergency personnel were dispatched at about 12:45 p.m. to the crash scene off West Camino Cielo, about four miles west of the Winchester Canyon Gun Club, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The driver and sole occupant of a 2021 Jeep Gladiator pickup truck that overturned was partially ejected and pinned in the wreckage, fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said.
The name of the victim, who was declared dead at the scene, was not released pending notification of relatives.
The crash occurred as the man was driving offroad just south of West Camino Cielo, the CHP reported.
“The driver attempted to negotiate a steep embankment and the vehicle overturned,” according to a CHP news release.
The driver was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the CHP added.
Firefighters remained on scene for an extended period in order to extricate the victim’s body from the wreckage, Bertucelli said.
The crash was under investigation by the CHP.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.