The car crash that killed three teenagers and critically injured a Lompoc Valley doctor and his wife on Highway 1 last year has led to multiple lawsuits, including some filed against Santa Barbara County and Caltrans.

The lawsuits filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court name the vehicle drivers along with the county and state as defendants, alleging wrongful death and negligence. Some people and entities named as defendants also are plaintiffs in the tangled web of legal actions stemming from the tragedy.

On May 18, 2025, three teenage boys in a Toyota Yaris were traveling on Highway 1 between Lompoc and Gaviota, returning to Santa Barbara after attending a County Junior Lifeguards training at Jalama Beach County Park. 

Jake Jeffery Curtis, 18, was the driver with Alexander Oakes Wood, 15, and Michael John Ochsner, 17, as passengers. All three were students at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta.

Curtis moved into the oncoming traffic lane as he attempted to pass two other vehicles on the narrow two-lane roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol. But the Toyota carrying the trio slammed head-on into the Tesla driven by Dr. Hafez Nasr with his wife Saghar Golfpayegani in the passenger seat.

All three teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene. Nasr and Golfpayegani were critically injured and spent months recovering.

Dos Pueblos High School and the South Coast community gathered to mourn the deaths of Curtis, Wood and Ochsner with vigils, paddle-outs and memorials.

The civil court filings detail additional information about the crash and aftermath.

The head-on collision impact caused both vehicles to hit two others, also driven by junior lifeguard members, according to court filings. They are identified in the civil complaints, but are not named as defendants in any of the lawsuits.

Legal documents say Curtis had tested positive for marijuana in his system. 

On Dec. 30, attorneys with Dordick Law Corporation of Beverly Hills and Law Offices of Joseph Pourshalimy in Los Angeles filed a legal actions on behalf of Nasr and Golfpayegani. The civil complaint named the estate of Jake Curtis, his father Dax Curtis, the county and the state as defendants.

The lawsuit contends Jake Curtis and the other young drivers “were provided no training, instruction, rules, regulations, admonitions, warnings, or handbooks of any type related to the operation of a motor vehicle.”

“This is particularly true as it relates to transporting other co-workers, driving on the main highway used to get to and from the job site, and driving in convoy with other co-workers which carries particular risk given the age and friendship of said co-workers,” the civil complaint says. 

Nasr’s lawsuit also blamed Caltrans for overgrown vegetation and improper lane markings saying they “were done negligently, inadequately and improperly and created a hazard, trap and dangerous conditions.”

The lawsuit says the doctor and his wife had life-altering injuries including permanent scarring, brain damage, broken bones, internal injuries, and disfigurement, all significantly exceeding the jurisdictional limits of the court. 

In October, the first lawsuit filed following the crash came from attorneys with Santa Barbara-based Nye, Stirling, Hale, Miller and Sweet, LLP on behalf of Louisa Wood, mother of Alex Wood. 

Nasr, along with the estate of Jake Curtis and his father, were named as defendants. 

The lawsuit claimed Dax Curtis purchased, co-signed, and/or insured the Toyota Yaris, kept the Yaris at his residence, and controlled use of the vehicle. 

Dax Curtis’s attorney from Behar Gibbs Savage and Paulson in Long Beach denied being the driver or registered owner of the Toyota and claimed in court filings that Alex Wood failed to use safety restraints. 

In early November, attorneys from Carpenter & Zuckerman in Beverly Hills filed a lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Michael John Ochsner, parents Sharon Ochsner and Andrew Ochsner, the estate of Alexander Oakes Wood and his father John Robert Wood. They filed a nearly identical lawsuit in late December, which names the county, Nasr and Curtis’ estate as defendants.

The civil complaint claimed the county was “independently negligent” by “requiring an inexperienced teenage driver to transport Michael and Alex to a mandatory training, including along a known hazardous highway.” 

Attorneys from the Santa Barbara County Counsel’s Office have denied the allegations.

“The conduct of third parties was negligent, careless, reckless, and/or unlawful such that their actions either proximately caused or contributed to the accident and plaintiff’s resulting injuries” county representatives said in court filings.  

Additionally, the county contended the teen drivers “were outside of their scope of employment at the time of the incident and hence the county cannot be held vicariously liable.”

Nasr has been named as a defendant in the Ochsner and Wood lawsuit, which accused him of speeding, reckless driving and falling to obey signs/signals. 

The various lawsuits seek economic and non-economic damages, lawsuit costs and other relief as deemed appropriate.

In their lawsuit, Nasr and Golpayegani also seek medical expenses.

Typically, related lawsuits would be consolidated and heard by the same judge, but the various cases have so far landed in three courtrooms in both North County and South County. 

However, the cases reportedly will be consolidated in the coming weeks to ensure judicial efficiency.