A 24-year-old Santa Barbara man was sentenced Wednesday to five years in state prison for driving under the influence and other charges related to a Dec. 13, 2024, crash on Hollister Avenue in the eastern Goleta Valley.

Luis Gerardo Sanchez Ruiz pleaded guilty to driving under the influence causing injury, driving with a suspended license, and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of over 0.08%, the level at which a person is considered legally drunk.

He also admitted to several allegations, including driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of over .15, causing injury to multiple victims, and personal infliction of great bodily injury.

Sanchez Ruiz had a previous conviction for reckless driving while under the influence of alcohol before the December 2024 crash. Jail records list his occupation as a vehicle estimator.

Emergency crews first responded to Hollister Avenue just west of Auhay Drive shortly before 8 p.m.

According to the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office, Sanchez Ruiz was driving 80-90 mph with a blood-alcohol concentration of .16 “before colliding with multiple vehicles.”

Four people were injured in the three-vehicle, head-on collision in the westbound lanes. One suffered “great bodily injury including a broken sternum,” per the District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney John T. Savrnoch said Wednesday that “impaired drivers continue to put the safety of all Santa Barbara County citizens at risk.”

“The sentence in this case demonstrates that those who make the criminal decision to
drive impaired face significant consequences as a result of their illegal actions” he said.

“The court clearly heard the victims who have faced suffering and trauma due to the decision of another to commit a completely preventable crime,

Victims and their family members also spoke at the sentencing hearing on the “significant impact caused by” Sanchez Ruiz, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Sanchez Ruiz remained in custody at the Santa Barbara Main Jail as of Thursday afternoon.