Single Car Crashes Over Embankment at Las Positas & Cliff

Sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning a red car traveling at an extremely high rate of speed on Las Positas Road skidded through the intersection at Cliff Drive, jumped the curb, and crashed down the hillside towards the creek. “The only thing that kept it from going all the way down into the creek was the fact that it hit a tree,” a city police officer said. The skid marks began about 50 feet before the stop sign and across the intersection.

The incident was reported by a passerby who saw the skid marks. When city police arrived they discovered there were no occupants in the car or immediate area. It had traveled about halfway down the embankment when it came to rest against the tree. Another officer said that it appeared whoever was in the car was trapped by the surrounding vegetation and may have climbed into the back seat where he or she had access to a tire iron and then smashed out the right side of the windshield in an attempt to escape.

While one of the officers was collecting personal items from within the car, including a bag full of coins and assorted currency, the other was radioing in information in an attempt to locate the registered owner. There was no indication whether there was more than one person in the car or not. As a precaution, Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue was called to the scene to check the area to see if there was anyone injured and unable to respond for help.