Two pedestrians were fatally injured Sunday evening when they were stuck by an allegedly drunk hit-and-run driver in western Goleta, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
The California Highway Patrol said the incident occurred at about 5:15 p.m. on Cathedral Oaks Road just east of Ellwood Ridge Road, to the west of Brandon Drive and less than a mile north of Calle Real.
One person was declared dead at the scene, Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said, and the other was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The second victim died later at the hospital, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick.
Early on Monday, Zick identified the victims as Mary Jane Becerra Corral and Adolfo Corral, both 44, of Goleta.
She reportedly worked as a computer specialist for the Goleta Union School District, while he was the equity, diversity, and cultural competency coordinator at Santa Barbara City College.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to benefit the Corrals’ family.
The suspected hit-and-run driver was arrested at about 8:45 p.m. in Carpinteria, Zick told Noozhawk.
She said the suspect — identified as Eric Mauricio Ramirez Aguilar, 39, of Goleta — was a passenger in a vehicle deputies stopped at about 8:30 p.m.
The driver of that vehicle, she added, was determined to be uninvolved in the Goleta crash and was released at the scene.
Aguilar was booked into County Jail on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated causing injury, hit and run causing death or injury, fleeing the scene after commiting manslaughter, and driving while intoxicated, with an enhancement for causing the deaths of more than one person.
He remained in custody on Monday, with bail set at $100,000.
The suspect fled the crash scene on foot, and law enforcement searched for him throughout the area with the help of two K9 teams.
The man was described as a Hispanic adult in his 30s, with a thin build and facial hair, wearing black clothing, according to emergency radio traffic.
Several roads were shut down in the area while the incident was investigated and sheriff’s deputies searched for the suspect.
Cathedral Oaks Road was expected to remain closed between Brandon Drive and Winchester Canyon Road for at least several hours, Zick said, adding that Coroner’s Bureau personnel were on delayed response to the scene.
Zick said the circumstances of the collision remained under investigation.
It appeared the victims were walking their dog on the bike path on the north side of Cathedral Oaks Road when they were struck by the apparently westbound car, which came to a stop against a fence on the north side of the bike path.
The dog was taken in by county Animal Services, Zick said, and later turned over to family members.
The vehicle involved — a blue Nissan 370Z Roadster convertible — may have been registered to an address in the Ellwood area of Goleta, according to emergency radio traffic.
Additional details were not immediately available.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— 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.