By F. Scott Faulkner
Santa Barbara County, CA–
An 82-year-old woman was struck by a vehicle and the driver fled the scene.
On the afternoon of Aug. 1, 2024, Santa Maria police patrol units responded to a
distress call from a Santa Maria shopping center reporting a pedestrian had been
severely injured. The victim, identified as 82-year-old Sandra Mushegan of Santa Maria,
was struck by a vehicle while exiting a store within the shopping complex.\
According to the SMPD watch commander, witnesses reported that “the driver did not
stop to render aid and instead fled the scene.” The abandoned vehicle was later found
in a nearby parking lot and was summarily impounded by the police as key evidence in
the case.
Mushegan was quickly transported to Marian Regional Medical Center, suffering from
“serious leg injuries.” Five days later, she succumbed to those injuries.
At that point, the Santa Maria Police Department Traffic Bureau intensified an already
an “exhaustive investigation” into the hit-and-run. Some two months later, their efforts
led to the identification of the suspect driver, Francisco Alvarez Bravo, 36, also from
Santa Maria.
After securing an arrest warrant, Bravo was apprehended on Sept. 29 whereupon he was transported to Santa Barbara North County Jail, where he was
booked on a charge of hit and run resulting in death. Bravo is currently held in custody
on a no-bail hold.
