by F. Scott Faulkner
GOLETA, CA — June 11th 2025 – Just before midnight on June 9th, a Honda Accord barreled off a major City of Goleta thoroughfare and slammed into a single-family home, creating major structural damage.
According to Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Scott Safechuck, firefighters with the department’s Urban Search and Rescue team quickly responded and “shored up and secured” the damaged structure using heavy-duty lumber to support the roof of the house. Fortunately, the lone resident inside the home escaped injury.
Deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office were soon on the scene and made contact with 23-year-old Goleta resident Nehemiah Verhoef. According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, Verhoef “failed to negotiate a left-hand turn, driving over a crosswalk activator and into the residence.” Deputies conducted a field sobriety test which quickly determined that Verhoef was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. His unnamed passenger didn’t help matters—according to Zick, the passenger “attempted to hide opened containers of alcohol from deputies prior to their arrival.” Both men were arrested and later cite-released from county jail.
