Two Killed in Goleta DUI Traffic Collision

Update by edhat staff
Two people have died following a traffic collision involving a DUI on Cathedral Oaks in Goleta Tuesday evening.
The Coroner's Bureau released the names of the victims involved as 40-year old Gilberto Arteaga-Gutierrez of Santa Barbara and 45-year old Silvia Velasco of Lompoc.
Around 7:30 p.m., Santa Barbara County Firefighters responded to Cathedral Oaks, west of Camino Cascada and discovered a four-vehicle collision between Kellogg and Cambridge.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) reported two black tags (fatalities) with heavy extrication and one green tag (minor injury) being transported to the hospital.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported a 31-year-old man was driving a 2016 Toyota 4-Runner eastbound on Cathedral Oaks at high speeds when the front end of the SUV struck the back of an eastbound 2002 Ford Mustang.
The Mustang spun around and struck two parked vehicles along the south curb of Cathedral Oaks. The occupants of the Mustang, Arteaga-Gutierrez and Velasco, were pronounced dead on the scene.
The driver of the 4-Runner, 31-year-old Andrew Raymond Burgher of Santa Barbara, was determined to be intoxicated at the time of the collision and sustained minor injuries. He was arrested and booked for murder and Driving Under the Influence (DUI) with a bail set at $2 million.
A small dog was also found inside the 4-Runner but was ok and transported to County Animal Services.
A fire hydrant was also damaged and the roadway was closed for a period of time.
CHP is asking that anyone with information related to this incident contact them at 805-967-1234.
Photo: SBCFD
Photo by an edhat reader
Photo by an edhat reader
Reported by Scanner Andrew
7:38 p.m., October 27, 2021
A traffic collision occurred at Cathedral Oaks and Camino Cascada involving multiple vehicles and fatal injuries
47 Comments
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Oct 26, 2021 07:39 PM3 vehicles involved per CHP
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Oct 26, 2021 07:39 PMSheriff advising 2 black tags
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Oct 26, 2021 07:39 PMOne medic unit on scene, 2 additional responding
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Oct 26, 2021 07:40 PM2 people in a red mustang
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Oct 26, 2021 07:40 PMShutting down Cathedral Oaks in both directions
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Oct 26, 2021 07:41 PM2 AMR units needed, third can cancel
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Oct 26, 2021 07:43 PMAnimal control requested for a dog inside one of the vehicles - the owner is being transported to the hospital
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Oct 26, 2021 07:43 PMThanks, Andrew !
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Oct 26, 2021 07:46 PMGreat report!
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Oct 26, 2021 07:49 PMA hydrant may also be sheared
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Oct 26, 2021 08:32 PMThanks Andrew, you’re the only one to report anything on this so far. Checked all the other usual news sites and it’s crickets.
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Oct 26, 2021 08:45 PMKEYT reported drunk driving played a role in the crash.
2 confirmed fatalities and one injury. 4 vehicles involved
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Oct 26, 2021 09:11 PMUnbelievable.
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Oct 26, 2021 09:47 PMThanks for reporting Andrew. Let me tell you all, Cathedral Oaks, I ride it on my road bike during my lunch hour rides & during the day, it's kind of sketchy, but once it's dark... DANGEROUS AF!
The area this happened at, kind of curvy, people drag racing to get past the light on Cambridge. Add alcohol to the mix & it's a definite disaster.
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Oct 26, 2021 11:41 PMGot home at Cathedral Oaks.. 10:45pm still a mess. It's an awful scene even in the dark. It's amazing how far apart the cars and trucks are from each other. At least two were parked and pushed on to properties Now Almost an hour later and no clean up in sight.This road super dangerous to cross anytime of day.. bit of a blind spot getting out of side streets where I live Red mustang tangled mess. Very sad for families. Luckily most folx round here already in their homes by 730. Thank you to first responders out there doing their work. People Slow Down.
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Oct 27, 2021 08:41 AMFatal accidents require extensive investigation, that's why they don't clean up the road right away.
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Oct 27, 2021 01:10 PMThere have been far too many fatal accidents on Cathedral Oaks in the past few years. It's time to do something. More stop signs, lower the speed limit, more cops patrolling maybe? People drive nuts on this road and add to that, groups of selfish cyclists refusing to ride single file, causing cars to swerve and cross the yellow line. I've seen a lot of near misses in my 3x daily drives between Sandpiper and Kellogg! Too many close calls and too many deaths. Goleta needs to address this.
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Oct 27, 2021 01:24 PMAgree 100% on everything. Reduce the speeds now; this is not a 101 alternative.
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Oct 27, 2021 01:35 PMYep. Totally agree, and I would add that traffic enforcement across the entire region is sub-par. Police (by and large) think this work is beneath them. We need to make our streets safe for bikes and pedestrians.
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Oct 27, 2021 02:16 PMIf you get Goleta to fix Cathedral Oaks, maybe you can get them to adopt the 154? My guess is that cops are too expensive to hire more to do traffic control, and currently they are busy with the State's catch and release programs.
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Oct 27, 2021 07:34 PMI believe the speed limit there is only 40, so is 35 safer? I think most of these deaths are from impaired drivers so, 5MPH or whatever isn't going to help. Not sure how to fix it. Maybe all of our cancel/ shaming community can start a campaign against DD. Maybe if it gets in people's heads that they will be blasted on social for leaving a bar after too many drinks?
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Oct 27, 2021 07:35 PM812- It actually is...
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Oct 27, 2021 02:42 PM40 mph Cathedral Oaks road is not the problem. Of all the accidents most are from excessive speed, racing or under the influence. Put the blame where it belongs. I have no Idea who was involved, I would put money on entitled brats raised with no sense of responsibility.
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Oct 27, 2021 02:50 PMPerhaps it is 40 MPH on that section, but other (darker) sections are 50 MPH; speed LIMITS need to be addressed.
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Oct 27, 2021 02:51 PMSAIL - of course the blame is ALWAYS on the driver, but that doesn't help anyone. Make it so they are unable to drive like idiots - patrol it, add stop signs, enforce the speed limit by radar or patrol. You can't just throw your hands up and say "bad people don't follow the law, so no more laws/restrictions."
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Oct 27, 2021 03:24 PMSAIL380: Andrew Burgher, 31, is who caused the wreck. He had already been busted for 2 DUI's previously.
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Oct 27, 2021 06:04 PMNot throwing my hands up and giving up. We have way to many laws on the books addressing this. Judges need to be the last stop on a person like this. Lots of questions. Was the car registered to him? Why is he allowed to have a vehicle after 2 DUI’s. Who supplied the alcohol. Needs to have his ID marked no alcohol. He has proven he can not think for himself so the legal system must.
He’s probably at the bar celebrating his get out of jail free drink right now!!!!
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Oct 28, 2021 12:47 AMOn point; speed limits and such are not the issue. People like Burgher are.
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Oct 28, 2021 01:41 AMDon't worry, this time. His bail was set at $2 million; he's still there.
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Oct 27, 2021 03:46 PMThe speed limit could have been 25 in that section and it would not have prevented those deaths.
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Oct 27, 2021 04:13 PMI think what you are saying is that we need a combination of reduced max speeds, consistent enforcement, and calming measures.
Sure, crazy stuff can always happen... but literally everyone who has studied traffic engineering at any level for even a minute will tell you that context matters quite a lot in your outcomes.
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Oct 27, 2021 03:50 PMOn any given day, I witness people speeding on both Cathedral Oaks and Fairview Avenue, and running stoplights at the Fairview Avenue/Berkeley Road and Cambridge Drive/Stow Canyon intersections. It's scary, for sure, and sickening to think that innocent people can have their lives destroyed in a matter of seconds by careless aholes.
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Oct 27, 2021 04:54 PMW/ all due rspect to the gravity of this incident & the lives lost, I gotta say the following. You can implement all the speed limits, stop signs, traffic lights, whatever other engineering control you wanna put in, but drunk drivers, they don't care about any of that. Add to that a "seasoned veteran" w/ previous DUI's & man, they get even more vehicularly belligerent.
Personally, I'm of the persuasion that refuses to even as much as look @ car keys if I even just had a drop of alcohol, just the way my brain's wired, doesn't make me better or worse than anybody here.
But some folks, 1 leads to 2, leads to 4, leads to more & off they go. Worst part is there's NOTHING you can say to such an individual, they'll justify their choice to drive & like I said above, all the engineering controls in the world ain't gonna stop the antics that ensue.
Now it comes down to administrative controls, also known as the law. This guy, 31 years old, 2 prior DUI's & now facing murder charges for the 3rd drunk driving incident.
I agree that some seem to think that Cathedral Oaks is a "101 alternative" & all, but the fact to this matter & in many other such incidents on that road always circle back to alcohol involved incident(s).
Remember the couple that got mowed down by the hit & run driver a while back? That's 1 of the most recent & horrible incidents on Cathedral Oaks & this was more like by Winchester Canyon.
I've lost too many friends & family, both, as victims to drunk drivers & as drunk drivers, to just let this slide. Let's put the effect to the cause & the cause was alcohol, the effect was 3 lives destroyed, 2 of those permanently. This really sucks.
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Oct 27, 2021 05:08 PMThank you Henry. Well said.
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Oct 27, 2021 05:18 PMTotally agree! And we can take away a license, penalize, etc, for a DUI but sadly repeat offenders REOFFEND. This driver has had 2 prior DUIs and who knows how many other times that he wasn't caught. Also, if you look at his Facebook you can see that he and his best friend had some kind of incident (no details exactly WHAT) a year ago while camping, and his friend end up dying while he recovered. The history of addiction is probably really deep with him, as with so many other "normal" looking people.
It is a terrible tragedy that innocent people are constantly being killed or injured by people like him, who have no regard for others and the sanctity of other lives, they just immerse themselves in their own selfishness. It's horribly sad and offensive. I feel so bad for the loved ones of those that died for no reason.
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Oct 27, 2021 05:52 PMHenry you’re absolutely right.
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Oct 27, 2021 06:16 PMI don't mind having the highest prison population in the world. We uniquely also have the most freedom to act for the greater good, or to act crazy. When crazy is against the law, then off to the slammer. No skin off my nose. No more supremely dangerous bad actors being kept out of prison - the sooner and the more the merrier. It is all about choice ultimately. And life behind bars is a choice. Provide the hots and cots, because it is a lot cheaper than letting lawless crazy harm others.
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Oct 28, 2021 11:09 AMSure, Byzantium, the only problem with that is prison just doesn't really work. It doesn't work as a deterrent and it doesn't work to rehabilitate, it just warehouses people and then releases them with additional criminal training gained inside to be used on you and me.
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Oct 27, 2021 06:42 PMThis is so sad....
I will say, the DA'S, office, and the Judges, take this very seriously....
I think 1st offense, not harming anyone, is about 10 thousand dollars...plus loss of license, work, mandatory classes, etc.
He will probably not be out of jail for a long time...
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Oct 27, 2021 07:07 PMAt least with the latest update we now know that the "small dog" is OK!!! Good to know that it's survived this drunk, for now...
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Oct 27, 2021 11:03 PMThis isn't a traffic engineering problem, but a DUI problem.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:32 AMSpecifically the DUI problem of Andrew Burgher, 31, of Santa Barbara. But it affect each and every one of us.
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Oct 28, 2021 05:24 AMAlright, long rant, but hey, seen others do it, why not? As a IV resident of 35 years it baffles me that given the alcohol consumption rate here, the number of DUI incidents are low. The reasons being that people don't drive around to get from party to party, they walk, skateboard, bike or scooter.
However, there's the "sophisticates" that do go downtown SB for the nightlife which usually involves a lot of drinking & for that, I gotta say, there's a lot of choices such as the Party Bus, Uber & Lyft, don't know if Bill's Bus is still in service though.
But another factor to the low DUI rate here in IV is something that happens on Los Carneros every once in a while & that's those DUI checkpoints.
Now, I gotta point out something about those Los Carneros checkpoints, most of the DUI's caught DON'T live in IV, they're from out of the area & they've already been drinking before coming into the area.
1 thing those checkpoints have done is thwart the drink & drive behavior & I gotta cite that as most likely a reason for the fact that we don't get many DUI incidents here in IV.
W/ all that said, we've seen that these fatal accidents on Cathedral Oaks, most involve alcohol related behaviors & maybe having more of a police presence on that road is gonna be a necessity.
I know, it's kind of rural, boring to patrol, but it's also a known route for drunk drivers to take to avoid police presence on the more traveled roads.
I guarantee that of there was more of a police presence on Cathedral Oaks, the number of alcohol related accidents would be drastically reduced & then we can focus on engineering controls for the regular accidents that happen on that road.
Increased police presence is a combination of administrative & engineering controls. Think of it this way, whenever there's a CHP cruiser on the freeway, what's the 1st thing everyone does? Hint: You see a lot of brake lights lighting up.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:35 AMWell said. Thanks for the 'rant'.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:33 AMAgree with Transparent's analysis, and particularly that context really matters. That is, location and frequency of accidents or mayhem in a particular area or neighborhood result in "coupling", or the "Law of Crime Concentration" (Weisburd). Certain PLACES, combined with PEOPLE that use or inhabit those places, can result in frequent incidents. In numerous policing studies, when attention is paid to high crime areas, for example frequent DUI stops, bad behavior declines and offenders are caught with a variety of drugs as well as alcohol abuse.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:48 AMIs it possible to request cops patrol an area more often? Is there some reason they cannot put more cops out on Cathedral Oaks, especially at night? Seems the best way to deter and prevent these types of accidents.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:50 AMThis is horrible, so sad,
Every time I open up Edhat there’s a death from a car accident either by speed or alcohol or drugs.
I have witnessed the bars serving people till they are drunk, making up for loss money, just keep serving them.
More police around highly populated bar areas are needed. Also maybe bar tenders should be notified somehow they will also be sited and responsible.