Buildings in Santa Barbara and Goleta served as unintended targets in two separate vehicle collisions on June 9 and 10. One, a suspected DUI, caused severe damage to a home, while the other, a minor driving error, resulted in minimal damage to a Credit Union wall.
A home in Goleta was severely damaged when a Honda sedan crashed into it late Monday night. The vehicle plowed through the front window, but the resident, in another part of the house, was unharmed. When deputies responded to the home on the 6200 block of Cathedral Oaks Road around 11:38 p.m. on June 9, they learned that 23-year-old Nehemiah Verhoef of Goleta had failed to make a left turn onto southbound Carlo, driving over a crosswalk activator before colliding with the residence. His passenger, 24-year-old Luke Gibou of Santa Barbara, allegedly tried to hide open containers of alcohol before deputies arrived. Verhoef was arrested for misdemeanor DUI, and Gibou was arrested for misdemeanor concealing evidence. Both were booked at the Main Jail and later released with a citation.
About 14 hours later, an elderly woman drove her car into the Santa Barbara Teachers Federal Credit Union building on La Colina Road on Tuesday. She told police officers that she had mistakenly pressed the gas pedal, drove over the curb, and hit the building. The crash occurred around 2:17 p.m. on June 10. The driver had minor complaints of pain and was taken to Cottage Hospital. Authorities confirmed she was the sole occupant of the vehicle, and no one else was hurt in the crash. Following the incident, the Santa Barbara Fire Department inspected the building and confirmed its structural integrity, despite some minor plaster damage as noted by a Credit Union employee.
