By F. Scott Faulkner
Santa Barbara, Ca. —
The city of Santa Barbara, long known as a city where “they roll up the sidewalks after dark,”
has increasingly become a risky place to be walking around after the midnight hour.
Evidence of this came at 4 a.m. on August 3, when a driver—later identified as 35-year-old
Lompoc resident Jehosafat Ocampo—ran a red light, speeding through a downtown intersection
and then crashing into a commercial building and severing a gas utility line.
Unfortunately, on his way to the building, Ocampo ran over a hapless pedestrian.
According to Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Sergeant Ethan Ragsdale, Ocampo
then fled the scene on foot. SBPD patrol officers responded to the scene with all due alacrity and
“tracked Ocampo down” and took him into custody. The unfortunate pedestrian was transported
to Cottage Hospital with “moderate injuries” and is expected to make a full recovery.
Ocampo was arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was charged with
felony hit and run causing injury, felony driving under the influence, and driving with a
suspended license, with his bail set at $100,000
