The driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a 30-year-old Fillmore man in 2024 along the Gaviota Coast pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Wednesday.

Timothy Bee of Solvang — who was 76 years old at the time of the collision — was sentenced to 364 days in jail and two years of probation.

His driver’s license was also suspended for three years.

District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Amber Frost said there was “sufficient evidence to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the unlawful driving occurred in a grossly negligent manner.”

Emergency crews responded to southbound Highway 101 near Las Vargas Canyon Road around 12:35 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2024 for a report of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian.

The pedestrian, identified by the Coroner’s Bureau as Jose Regalado Jr., was next to his parked Ford F350 truck on the shoulder of the highway when he was hit and killed.

Bee veered his vehicle to the right onto the shoulder and hit Regalado Jr. and the parked truck, the California Highway Patrol said at the time.

Bee immediately stopped his vehicle and called 9-1-1, per CHP.

He was not arrested at the scene of the collision. Court records show a felony charge was later filed in June 2025.

Alcohol was not a factor in the collision, according to the CHP.

Regaldo Jr. is survived by his wife and two children, according to a 2024 GoFundMe account.