Nearly two weeks after a violent multivehicle collision on the UC Santa Barbara campus that killed three people — including a UCSB student — and injured five others, university officials have released the first details about the incident.
The crash occurred just before 5 p.m. May 28 at the intersection of El Colegio and Stadium roads, at the western entrance to the main campus on the edge of Isla Vista.
UCSB officials still have not provided a general description of what they believe happened.
However, witnesses reported that a white 2015 Nissan Altima was westbound on El Colegio Road when it ran a red light at high speed, struck a curb and went airborne, hurtling into two vehicles waiting at the red light in the opposing lanes.
The Nissan flattened the roofs of both vehicles before spinning into some eucalyptus trees along the street behind them.
The California Highway Patrol reported shortly after the collision that one of the vehicles was speeding and driving recklessly immediately before the wreck, but didn’t say which one.
The names of those killed were released May 31 by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau.
On Friday, in response to a renewed request from Noozhawk, the UCSB Office of Public Affairs & Communication released some details about the deadly crash.
According to Kiki Reyes, media relations manager for UCSB, 28-year-old José Luis Hernández of Santa Barbara was driving the Nissan and was accompanied by a 27-year-old male passenger in the right front seat.
Hernández died in the crash, and his passenger was injured.
The vehicles that were struck by the Nissan were a silver 2015 BMW M235i and a red 2017 Toyota RAV4, according to Reyes.
She identified the driver of the BMW as 20-year-old Sebastian “Sebas” Gil of Santa Barbara, a second-year UCSB student. He was killed in the collision, along with 20-year-old Daniel Razo of Anaheim, who was a passenger in the right rear seat, Reyes said.
A 20-year-old male passenger in the right front seat was injured.
Reyes said three occupants in the RAV4 were injured: a 21-year-old man from Rancho Cucamonga, a 20-year-old man from Los Gatos and a 25-year-old man from San Francisco.
The names of the injured were not released by UCSB, although they are considered public information under California Government Code, Section 6254(f).
Asked to provide a general description of what happened, Reyes said, “The UCSB Police Department does not wish to speculate as to the cause of the collision until all the facts are known.”
The Santa Barbara Police Department has confirmed to Noozhawk that Hernández was arrested last July in an incident on East Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara that involved speeding and reckless driving. He allegedly was involved in numerous physical altercations before fleeing from police in a white Nissan.
Hernández later was convicted of reckless driving, resisting arrest and driving without a license, and was sentenced to 49 days in jail, according to Santa Barbara County Superior Court records.
GoFundMe accounts have been set up for funeral expenses and to benefit the families of Gil, Hernández and Razo.
Reyes said the crash remains under investigation, and more information will be released once it is completed.
— 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.>