An informal memorial has been set up along Storke Road in Goleta at the location where Ruben Reyes Victoria, 29, of Goleta was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.
A memorial set up along Storke Road in Goleta where Ruben Reyes Victoria, 29, of Goleta was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Sept. 20, 2023. Credit: Tom Bolton / Noozhawk photo

A 20-year-old man pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter last month for a hit-and-run collision that killed a Goleta man on Storke Road. 

David Zhao Rousso was charged with hit-and-run causing injury or death and vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the Sept. 20, 2023, collision that killed 29-year-old Ruben Reyes Victoria. 

Victoria was working on landscape maintenance at the time of the collision along Storke Road near Bollay Drive, the Sheriff’s Office said. He worked for Kitson Landscape Management and as a chef at Goodland BBQ. 

Victoria is survived by his wife and two young children, and the family’s GoFundMe raised more than $57,000 to help them with expenses. 

Witnesses said the driver in the collision left the scene and drove to a nearby hotel. Deputies arrested Rousso shortly afterward, according to the Sheriff’s Office.  

Ruben Reyes Victoria
Ruben Reyes Victoria Credit: Contributed photo

Rousso entered a plea of no contest to the misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge on March 10. He was sentenced to one year of probation and 90 days in jail custody, according to Deputy District Attorney Gabriela London. 

He is currently serving that jail time on alternative sentencing, according to Sheriff’s Office custody records. 

The Sheriff’s Office and jail staff determine whether defendants can serve jail time in that program, London said. 

The Alternative Sentencing Bureau operates an electronic monitoring program and a work alternative program with mandatory community service hours. 

Noozhawk executive editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com.