It’s June 12. Happy birthday to my favorite daughter, Kirsten.
The last seven days have been quite the spectacle, huh? Between our uneasy long-term relationship with the coronavirus, the uneven economic recovery, the unintelligible “reopening” strategy, and the unprecedented masses of people demonstrating against racism and police brutality, there’s been no shortage of news in Noozhawk.
And all of those stories drew heavy readership this past week.
They just didn’t draw the most readership. It wasn’t even that close, really.
The Top 5 most-read stories followed a familiar script, though, and so will I. What follows is my own take on what our Google Analytics says that 152,616 of you were reading.
As a reminder, this is my opinion column. It’s not a news story.
1. Multiple Vehicles Damaged, Injuries Reported in Series of Hit-Run Collisions on Highway 101
Even now, with the twin furies of COVID-19 and the economic shutdown keeping many people off the roads, the morning commute into Santa Barbara is bumper to bumper on Highway 101.
That slog was made even worse June 8 when a pickup truck driver allegedly played bumper cars while on a miles-long hit-and-run spree between Carpinteria and Montecito.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Shannan Sams, the chain of collisions began around 8 a.m. when a white Ford F-350 Dually crashed into another vehicle on the freeway near Santa Monica Road in Carpinteria.
Over the next seven miles, eight more such wrecks were reported in a fender-bending bender that CHP investigators believe was deliberate.
With witnesses and law enforcement vehicles trailing behind, the pickup truck driver stopped on the right shoulder of the freeway near the Olive Mill Road exit ramp in Montecito and made a run for it. Moments later, the dumbass was captured by construction workers on North Jameson Lane.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the crashes, but authorities say three people were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with minor injuries.
Sams told our Tom Bolton that the suspect — 33-year-old Bryan Martinez of Oxnard — was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, and that additional charges are likely.
No motive for the collision course was provided.
2. 2 Men Die, 4 Other People Hurt in Highway 166 Crash West of Santa Maria
A frightful — and senseless — head-on crash on Highway 166 west of Santa Maria killed both drivers and devastated a local family the evening of June 5. A third motorist was injured in a collateral collision.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Benjamin Smith, the driver of a 2004 Nissan 350Z was traveling east at a high rate of speed, recklessly passing vehicles on the highway’s right dirt shoulder.
About 6:05 p.m., Smith said, the driver lost control near Bonita School Road, about three miles east of Guadalupe and halfway to Santa Maria. The sports car spun across the highway and slammed head-on into a 2017 Nissan Altima.
The collision launched the Altima into the air and the sedan landed on its roof off the highway, also known as West Black Road. The out-of-control 350Z then struck a third vehicle, an oncoming 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt.
As our Janene Scully first reported, the drivers of both Nissans were pronounced dead at the scene.
The CHP identified the 350Z driver as 20-year-old Miguel Preciadonava of Santa Maria. He was the only occupant.
The Altima driver was identified as 30-year-old Oscar Campos of Santa Maria. He was not alone, and it took Santa Barbara County firefighters quite a while to free his injured family from the wreckage.
Campos’ wife, 28-year-old Beatriz Estrada, escaped serious harm but their children — a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son — suffered critical injuries and were airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital by a Calstar medical helicopter.
The driver of the Cobalt, 28-year-old Nabor Ortizlopez of Santa Maria, suffered minor injuries.
The CHP is investigating the circumstances of the wreck, and Preciadonava’s actions that preceded it.
Services are pending for Campos, but his sister, Nancy Campos of Guadalupe, established a GoFundMe account to assist the family with funeral and medical expenses.
“My brother was a great father, husband, brother and son,” she wrote. “Always with a smile on his face, and a hard-working man.”
As of June 12, the account had raised nearly $11,000. Click here to make an online donation.
3. 1 Person Killed, Another Critically Injured in Suspect DUI Crash on Highway 154
An Arroyo Grande pharmacist was killed June 5 in a head-on collision on Highway 154 near San Marcos Pass. The other driver suffered major injuries in the wreck and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
As our Tom Bolton first reported, the crash occurred around 10:40 a.m. near fog-shrouded West Camino Cielo above Santa Barbara.
According to the California Highway Patrol, 61-year-old Oscar Pereyra of Santa Barbara was driving a Toyota pickup east on the highway when the truck crossed the double yellow lines and slammed into an oncoming Hyundai Sonata sedan.
The driver of the Hyundai, identified as 36-year-old Michael Liu, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pereyra suffered major injuries in the collision, and had to be extricated from the wreckage by Santa Barbara County firefighters. He was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and the CHP said he later was arrested on supsicion of felony DUI.
The circumstances of the crash are under investigation.
Liu, a clinical pharmacist at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, is survived by his wife, Lin, and their son, Levi.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help Liu’s family, and organizers described him as “always smiling, caring, loving and fun.”
“He lived life with open arms, welcoming everyone in, whether to his heart or his home,” according to the GoFundMe post.
As of June 12, the account had raised more than $32,000. Click here to make an online donation.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
4. Search Ends Happily for 2 People Feared to Have Been Swept Out to Sea in Santa Barbara
Two paddle-boarders who were feared swept out to sea off Santa Barbara turned up safe and, in fact, apparently were never in danger.
Santa Barbara fire Battalion Chief Robert Mercado told our Tom Bolton that a witness reported seeing two people carrying paddle boards enter the water at Hendry’s Beach, officially known as Arroyo Burro Beach County Park, about 3:30 p.m. June 7. Gusty winds were buffeting the area at the time.
He said the witness followed the pair from the beach as they moved east along the Mesa, but reported losing sight of them as they neared Leadbetter Beach west of the Santa Barbara Harbor.
Two Harbor Patrol boats and two helicopters — one from the U.S. Coast Guard and the other a Santa Barbara County chopper — launched a search for the duo.
About 6 p.m., Mercado said, it was determined that the paddle-boarders had purposefully set out for Leadbetter Beach. One completed the voyage but the second returned to shore at Thousand Steps.
Neither was ever in harm’s way, he said.
5. SWAT Team Called Out for Alleged Domestic-Violence Incident in Santa Barbara
Residents of a Santa Barbara apartment complex got a doozy of a wakeup call June 7 when Santa Barbara police, SWAT and crisis negotiators descended on the Mesa neighborhood, responding to an alleged domestic violence incident.
SBPD spokesman Anthony Wagner told our Tom Bolton that officers were dispatched just after 5 a.m. to the complex at Oceano and Del Mar avenues, near Santa Barbara City College’s West Campus.
“The circumstances that unfolded required this type of call out” was all Wagner would say, though.
Tom learned independently that the altercation apparently involved a man and woman, and that the man had barricaded himself inside a first-floor apartment.
The complex was evacuated, and police negotiators convinced the man to surrender about 8:25 a.m.
He was taken into custody without further incident, Wagner said.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Charges Filed Against 5 People in Eastside Santa Barbara Slaying.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Some things you have to think about, some things you just do: Buffalo Teen Who Spent 10 Hours Cleaning Up After Riots Awarded Car, Insurance and College Scholarship.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
#myfavoritepalmtree and other frond images dominated my Instagram feed this past week.
• • •
Watch It
This is from last month, but it’s still funny — and relevant.
(@dudedad video via Instagram)
• • •
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk and Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.