John Dalton
Santa Barbara — One can only imagine the degree of inebriation required for a driver to operate a motor vehicle so erratically that it moves from the roadway of a downtown urban street to a busy retail area sidewalk, impact multiple pedestrians, and then slam into a busy restaurant building.
It was exactly that prima facie evidence of an inability to properly control his Toyota Tacoma pickup on Santa Barbara’s busiest street that ended with the arrest of 53-year-old Santa Barbara resident John Dalton.
It was just after the noon hour on October 7th when, according to Santa Barbara Police Department Public Information Officer Anthony Wagner, Dalton’s truck “veered to the right, knocking down a couple of utility poles” and collided with at least four pedestrians before slamming into the building housing Carlito’s, a popular State Street eatery packed with weekend diners at the time of the incident.
According to Santa Barbara City Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike De Ponce, first responders discovered “four people who were on the sidewalk suffering minor injuries,” as well as Dalton, himself injured. All five were promptly transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital while “no one was injured on the restaurant patio.”
Dalton was subsequently contacted at the hospital, where he was taken into custody and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on a charge of felony DUI involving drugs.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
