There were 92,332 people who read Noozhawk this past week. What’s my take on your top stories? I’m glad you asked.
1. Fatal Wreck Snarls Highway 101 Traffic Near Ventura
Three San Luis Obispo men survived an early morning wreck on Highway 101 north of Ventura, but one was killed soon after when a second vehicle ran into the trio after they got out of their overturned SUV.
According to the California Highway Patrol, 22-year-old Adam Nicholas Begazo was driving his Toyota 4Runner back to San Luis Obispo from Los Angeles about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 6. The vehicle apparently drifted into the center divider then veered right and flipped on its roof just north of the State Beaches off-ramp.
CHP Officer Steve Reid told our Tom Bolton that Begazo and his companions — Christopher Stevens 21, and Jacob Wolfe, 22 — were not injured in the initial crash and they were able to get out of the vehicle, which was upside down and blocking the left two lanes.
Reid said the three were standing near the center divider when, moments later, they were struck by a Chrysler van driven by Michael White, 63, of Oxnard, as it crashed into the wreckage.
Begazo died at the scene of blunt-force trauma, according to Michael Tellez, spokesman for the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Authorities say Wolfe suffered major injuries, and Stevens had minor injuries. Both were transported to a Ventura County hospital.
White, who was on his way to work in Goleta, was not injured, Reid said.
Two of the three northbound lanes were closed until late morning as authorities investigated the crash and removed debris, causing a massive traffic tie-up during the Monday commute.
The collision remains under investigation.
2. Fishermen Reel In Quite a Catch with 2 Dramatic Rescues after Separate Shark Attacks
Brothers Leigh “Captain Lou” and Chuck Christman and two buddies were looking forward to a full day of fishing when they motored out of Santa Barbara Harbor aboard the 26-foot Elizabeth Ann early on Oct. 3.
The fishing is always better just over the horizon so thoughts of white sea bass lured them north of Point Conception and, later, to a spot near Point Arguello off Vandenberg Air Force Base. Once there, they bounced around the water as a half-dozen kayakers fished not far away, about a quarter-mile from shore.
Then things got interesting.
As the Christmans later recounted in an exclusive interview with our Peter Hartmann and Stacey Wright of the Urban Hikers, “a commotion in the water” caught their eye and was immediately followed by a “Mayday” call over the marine radio. Lou Christman said he knew instinctively that there had been a great white shark attack on one of the nearby kayak fishermen.
The Elizabeth Ann raced over to two of them, arriving within seconds. One of the kayakers was fine but the other, his father, was bleeding and appeared to be in shock as he clung to his overturned kayak.
The crew hauled them aboard and was relieved to discover that the bleeding man’s injuries were the result of being ejected from his kayak when the shark rammed it, and not from being the shark’s lunch.
At that point, Christman noticed that one of the four other kayakers was in pursuit of the boat — “paddling his ass off,” he said. So they rescued him, too.
After depositing the three fishermen safely onshore, the Elizabeth Ann returned to its fishing spot, staying in the area for about an hour before deciding to head back to Santa Barbara.
They no sooner had turned the boat around when the radio crackled to life with another Mayday call. Sure enough, the remaining three kayakers were in distress and the Elizabeth Ann went to make its second rescue of the day. When they arrived, they found the three men packed into two kayaks, dragging the third kayak, which had a Jaws-sized bite in its hard-plastic hull.
Aside from the kayak, there were no casualties in the second shark attack, which actually was the third in two days: A day earlier and not all that far away, a shark bit a surfer off Wall Beach.
Having saved the day not once, but twice, the Christmans and their companions embarked on their three-hour cruise back to Santa Barbara. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Meanwhile, a note to kayakers fishing in shark-infested waters: You’re gonna need a bigger boat.
(Christman family video via Urban Hikers, published with permission. Language warning.)
3. Search Halted for Fugitive in San Marcos Pass Area
A Los Angeles fugitive traced to the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez apparently is still on the lam after somehow eluding authorities during a high-speed chase along Highway 154.
Around 4:30 p.m. Oct. 3, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department got a tip that the woman — whose name and felony arrest warrant details were not disclosed — was at the casino. When deputies arrived, they learned she had just left with another woman in a Jeep Cherokee.
“As one deputy was pulling into the parking lot, he observed the suspect vehicle exiting the Chumash Casino, and a traffic stop was initiated,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said. “The vehicle pulled over, and as the deputy was making his approach, the suspect vehicle took off at a high rate of speed.”
Deputies gave chase, and Hoover said the pursuit reached speeds of 100 mph as the Jeep raced east toward San Marcos Pass.
“Out of public safety concerns, the pursuit was terminated,” she said, adding that the vehicle description was broadcast out to other law-enforcement agencies.
The Jeep was eventually tracked down to Santa Barbara, where the driver was taken into custody after what Hoover called a “high-risk” traffic stop near Cathedral Oaks Road.
Unfortunately, she acknowledged, deputies learned that the original driver — the alleged fugitive — had fled the vehicle near the top of San Marcos Pass.
Deputies, assisted by K-9 units, searched the area for nearly two hours until darkness made hunting conditions impossible.
4. Major Power Outage Causes Disruptions in Santa Barbara
Southern California Edison customers in Montecito and Santa Barbara were plagued by multiple — apparently unrelated —power outages last week.
In addition to the massive outage that cut off electricity for more than 22,000 customers for several hours the evening of Oct. 2, more than 2,600 Montecito customers found themselves powerless Oct. 3.
That night, a transformer exploded near City Parking Lot 10 on the corner of Anacapa and Ortega streets downtown. Nearly 1,400 customers were left in the dark.
Edison said it appeared the outages were all unrelated. The Oct. 2 interruption was blamed on a failure at the East Gutierrez Street substation.
5. Authorities Investigating Body Found in Carpinteria Salt Marsh
The body of a Carpinteria man was found in the Carpinteria Salt Marsh on Oct. 4, setting off several days of speculation about what happened.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said a passerby found the man about 10:30 a.m. Authorities apparently knew who he was but would not disclose his identity beyond describing him as “a Carpinteria man in his 60s.”
Cryptically, Hoover said, the circumstances of the death remained under investigation, and anyone with information was asked to contact detectives.
It was four days before key details were released, including the dead man’s name: Michael George Ornelas, 63.
“Following a criminal and a coroner’s investigation, the Sheriff’s Office has determined that Ornelas died from an apparent suicide,” Hoover said Oct. 8. “The official cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results.”
In an obituary on Noozhawk, Ornelas’ family described him as a “charismatic, outgoing, loving man who adored his family and his only son, Anthony.”
“He was a free spirit individual who lived life to his full potential,” they wrote.
Ornelas’ wife, Carol, died several years ago. In addition to his son, he is survived by his mother, Aurelia, four sisters and a brother.
A Rosary service will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1532 Linden Ave. in Carpinteria, with a funeral Mass at 9 a.m. Oct. 14 at the church.
Click here for free suicide prevention resources that are available 24 hours a day, or call 1.800.273.8255.
R.I.P.
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
