The City of Santa Maria has settled a lawsuit with the mother of a 20-year-old man allegedly run over by a police transport van after he drove drunk, crashed his vehicle and was ejected onto Highway 101 in 2022.

Attorneys for Julia Becerra filed the lawsuit in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria in February 2023 after the death of her son, Vincent Bruce Becerra of Lompoc. Becerra died after a March 18, 2022, single-vehicle crash near the intersection of northbound Highway 101 and Palmer Road, between Orcutt and Los Alamos.

Santa Maria agreed to pay a $90,000 final settlement to the plaintiff in exchange for a complete exoneration, City Attorney Thomas Watson said.

Julia Becerra previously reached a $1 million settlement with Vincent Becerra’s former employer, Adiamo Solvang Inc. (doing business as Cecco Ristorante), and owner David Eugene Cecchini, according to court documents.

At the time of the crash, Vincent Becerra had a blood alcohol content of 0.19%, more than twice the legal limit for driving a vehicle, although Becerra was below the legal drinking age. Toxicology tests also detected marijuana in his system.

He had worked a shift at Cecco where a bartender served the 20-year-old beer and shots of hard liquor, the court documents claim. The bartender also left the restaurant to purchase hard liquor from a store for the underage employee, according to the civil complaint.

The city contended that the investigation determined that Vincent Becerra was driving more than 100 mph and texting his girlfriend when he lost control of the car. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his vehicle in the crash.

After being ejected, Vincent Becerra ended up lying in a Highway 101 lane.

That’s where a Santa Maria Police Department transport van driven by Officer Eduardo Servin drove over the 20-year-old, “crushing his head and killing him instantly,” the plaintiff’s court documents alleged.

Experts, however, including one hired by the Becerra family, contended that the 20-year-old had serious injuries from being ejected onto the roadway. They raised doubts about whether the police van ever struck him.

“Mr. Becerra sustained internal injuries sometime during the course of the horrendous car crash that were destined to be fatal, given the remote location of the accident, even without the instantaneously fatal neck and head injuries,” wrote Steven Dippell, an attorney hired to represent the city and the police officer.

The family contacted 1-800-Autopsy claiming that “Becerra supposedly crawled back onto the road and was run over by a police car. Family thinks he was alive when he was run over,” according to limited information given to the private autopsy doctor who did not know the source for the information, according to the city’s motion.

The private autopsy revealed that three fractured ribs caused significant bleeding that would have killed Becerra “even without the instantaneously fatal head and neck injuries,” the city motion said.

Servin happened upon the scene, spotted the wrecked vehicle and searched for a missing driver. Vincent Becerra was located under the front portion of the police van that had a clearance of 2 feet or more, according to court documents.

A doctor who stopped at the scene observed the officer move the van and said no part of the person in the road made contact with the underside of the van, according to the city’s attorney.

Dashcam video from the police van showed Vincent Becerra not moving while he was in the roadway as well as questioning of the doctor who performed the private autopsy, family and police officer provided “no admissible evidence to support the contention that the decedent crawled after being ejected,” according to a motion filed by Dippell, Santa Maria’s hired attorney.

The civil case before Judge Jed Beebe was dismissed in late July. 

“The Becerra case involved the tragic and untimely death of a well-liked young man and a grieving family. While respectfully acknowledging their loss, the city concluded the evidence did not support the family’s claims against the city as detailed in the city’s motion for summary judgment which was pending when the settlement was reached,” Watson, the city attorney, said.

The settlement came weeks before a jury trial was set to start.

“An opportunity to resolve the case for an amount consistent with what it would cost to defend against the claims through trial and appeal while, at the same time, eliminating the possibility, however remote, of an adverse verdict for millions of dollars was a risk management decision in the best interests of the city and the taxpayers,” Watson added.

In addition to the $90,000 payment, the city spent approximately $95,000 as of mid-August for the outside attorney, Steven Dippell of Davis, Bengtson and Young in San Jose. 

Becerra’s attorney, Arthur Petrousian of Morgan & Morgan Los Angeles LLP, did not respond to a request for comment.