Phot: Eric Mauricio Ramirez Aguilar
Santa Barbara County – In the early evening hours of February 9th, a 911 Emergency call brought Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department patrol units, SBCO Fire Department personnel, and additional paramedic crews attached to American Medical Response to the scene of a reported accident involving a pair of pedestrians struck by a speeding car.
According to SBSD Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, “while deputies were enroute, the driver of the vehicle ran from the scene” but was observed by witnesses running down a major residential thoroughfare. Arriving at the scene, deputies quickly determined that the male victim was deceased, whereupon “life saving measures for the second pedestrian” were immediately administered.
Minutes later, Fire Department and ambulance personnel were on the scene and took over the care of the second victim, who was promptly transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, only to be pronounced dead up on arrival.
Multiple K9 units were deployed as a search area around the accident scene was outlined and witness statements were gathered that included a description of the suspect vehicle.
Three hours later, that car was spotted by patrol deputies in the City of Carpinteria. A traffic stop was conducted and contact was made with 39-year-old Goleta resident Eric Mauricio Ramirez Aguilar. He was then transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges of vehicular homicide and hit-and-run, with his bail currently set at $100,000.
Photo: Courtesy of Facebook
