Edhat Staff
Three people have died, and two individuals suffered major injuries in a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 1 Sunday evening, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The crash, involving four vehicles, occurred shortly after 6 p.m. on State Route 1 near Rancho San Julian, a stretch of the highway between Lompoc and Gaviota.
Buellton California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office deputies, and Santa Barbara Fire Department personnel responded.
Preliminary investigation by the responding officers determined that a 2007 Toyota Yaris, traveling southbound, entered the northbound lane and struck a 2024 Tesla Model 3 head-on.
This crash caused the Tesla to collide with a 2012 Audi Q5 which was traveling southbound. A 2002 Honda Accord, traveling southbound, was also struck by one of the vehicles.
All three occupants of the Toyota sustained fatal injuries. The Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Office has identified the occupants of the Toyota as Jake Curtis (driver, 18) of Goleta, Michael Ochsner (passenger, 17), and Alexander Wood (passenger, 15) of Santa Barbara.
All three have been identified as students at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta and lifeguards with Santa Barbara County.
Both occupants of the Tesla were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with major injuries. The drivers of the Audi and Honda sustained minor injuries.
The Tesla occupants were physician Hafez Nasr (driver, 54) and Saghar Golpayegani (passenger, 53) both of Lompoc. The Audi was driven by Luke Karmen (16) and the Honda by Daniel Switzer (17), both of Santa Barbara. Both are high school students on the South Coast.
Nasr was transported by ambulance, while the Golpayegani was airlifted via CalStar helicopter to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment.
“This was a tragedy, and local families have lost loved ones,” said Buellton Area Commander Lieutenant Jason Bronson. “We grieve with the families and work every day to prevent this loss of life in our communities.”
This investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with additional information about this incident should call the Buellton Area CHP office at (805) 691-6160.
Highway 1 was closed in both directions for a period of time but has since been reopened.
I woke up to loud cries and sobbing this morning as the word spread to my teenage daughter through social media – followed by the formality of an email from the DP principal before school. I asked my daughter if it was “our Jake”…the friend she made Freshman year in Theater class, the happy and friendly Jake I’d given late-night rides home after school performances, the same Jake that was immediately likable, funny, and always polite…the same Jake that she knew I really liked and would occasionally ask about in the subsequent years. Her crushing “yeah” through cries will continue to sting us both.
This is such a tragedy. My heart goes out to all of the families devastated by this horrible accident, including Hafez and Saghar who are still fighting for their lives – I hope you recover quickly and fully. Life is so precious, hug your loved ones folks.
STANDING HERE – I am so sorry for your daughter’s (and your) loss. My kid also knew the boys from school and sports. It is beyond gut wrenching. We’re all sending our love and prayers for the families of the boys and all of their friends. Our community has suffered another tragic loss of our youth.
This is absolutely devastating and tragic. This road has claimed far too many lives. My heart goes out to the friends and families of the deceased. So horribly sad.
OMG this is so awful.
The whole town is bereft. This is so heart wrenching.
Let’s remind our kids how dangerous cars can be. It is NE VER worth it to speed, try to pass, race our friends, or play games on the road. This is the sad reality.
“And no one says a word about that.”
Except you, though, because unlike you most people are decent humans. For the sake of their families and friends you should *really* explore ways to delete the above post.
The facts of the accident are presented clearly enough, even though there is always, always more to the story than first accounts.
What is wrong with you? It’s probably pretty obvious that an inexperienced 18 year old driver (driving a small car), incorrectly tried to pass when there was oncoming traffic and not enough space. That doesn’t change the fact that this is TRAGIC.
James–I am tempted to say some really horrible things to you. But, for you to say what you have, almost certainly means horrible things have been said to you all your life.
Go help someone. Do something positive with your life.
Please note everyone, this is based SOLELY on a preliminary investigation. No one knows exactly what happened yet except the investigators working on this and the witnesses. There has been no official report yet.
PLEASE stop the blame. This is beyond tragic and affects MANY people here in our community. Lives will never be the same. Unless you were there and saw it happen, keep the blame to yourself.
Honestly, I don’t know why they even allow comments on stories like this. The internet is full of trolls and losers and they’re spewing their sickness all over the comment threads of articles about this. There are NO comments that need to be shared about this.
I knew one of the young men tragically taken from us and I can attest that he was a great person raised by a wonderfully loving and caring family. The fact that you put any guilt on them without any compassion is disgustingly ignorant.