California Highway Patrol investigators are still gathering information on the two fatal crashes that killed four Santa Barbara County residents last week.
The two crashes were close together in time and location, on Highway 101 west of Goleta, but investigators determined they are not connected, CHP Officer Jon Gutierrez said.
“I can definitely tell you that the first one is not related to the second one,” Gutierrez told Noozhawk.
At about 2:10 a.m. on Aug. 25, a vehicle crash was reported on northbound Highway 101 near the Winchester Canyon Road exit.
A preliminary report from the CHP last week said two vehicles were involved, including one found with major damage and one that fled the scene.
The driver of the damaged vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and was identified as 31-year-old Cameron Martinez of Solvang.
A second two-vehicle collision was reported near Dos Pueblos Canyon Road about eight minutes later, according to the CHP.
The driver of a Volkswagen traveling northbound crossed into the southbound lanes and collided with a Ford Expedition. Both vehicles caught fire.
The Volkswagen driver and the driver and passenger of the Expedition died of their injuries, according to the CHP.
The Coroner’s Office identified those three people as Natalia Stallworth, 28, of Santa Barbara, Daniel Garcia, 25, of Santa Maria, and Eryka Lopez, 23, of Santa Maria.
Stallworth was in the Volkswagen, and Garcia and Lopez were in the Expedition, according to the Coroner’s Office.
All lanes of Highway 101 were closed for hours after the crashes, and the three vehicles were towed away as evidence.
Stallworth, the alleged wrong-way driver in the triple-fatal collision, was being pursued by Ventura-area CHP officers the morning of the crash.
CHP Officer Thomas Kirkland told Noozhawk that Ventura officers had been in a vehicle pursuit with the Volkswagen since Ventura County, traveling northbound on Highway 101. The chase was reportedly initiated for speeding, Kirkland said.
CHP officers followed the vehicle into southern Santa Barbara County, and called off the pursuit somewhere in the Goleta Valley, when dispatchers informed them of the crash involving Martinez’s vehicle, according to Kirkland.
“Yes, our vehicles were in pursuit of one of the vehicles involved in the wrong-way (collision), but they had canceled the pursuit before the collision,” Kirkland said, adding that the officers then responded to the first crash site to lend assistance. “After that, the vehicle that had fled from our officers, who had canceled our pursuit, had been in another collision.”
Gutierrez said Santa Barbara CHP officers were not involved in the vehicle pursuit.
“They asked us for a spike strip, but we did not throw one,” he said.
He also said that the first crash, involving Martinez’s vehicle, happened before the pursuit-involved vehicles arrived in the area.
CHP investigators will likely ask the public for information about the first crash, which they think involved a second, hit-and-run vehicle, Gutierrez said.
“The problem is, it happened around 2 in the morning , and it’s not like a lot of people are around at 2 in the morning,” Gutierrez said.
All four people killed in the crashes were Santa Barbara County residents.
Lopez’s aunt, Nora Rodriguez, said Garcia was her niece’s boyfriend.
Family members have established a GoFundMe account for the couple’s funeral arrangements. Click here to make an online donation.
This week, a GoFundMe account was established to pay for funeral expenses for Martinez.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
