Two teenagers have been arrested following a robbery and a car chase that resulted in a five-vehicle collision that injured seven people on Highway 101, closing the road for much of the day on Tuesday.
About 6:30 a.m., authorities received a call about a robbery at a group home on the 4600 block of South Bradley Road in Santa Maria, according to a news release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. Police said two male teenagers, ages 14 and 15, confronted a group home employee with a knife and demanded the keys to a vehicle owned by the group home.
One of the suspects allegedly choked the employee with a chain until she gave up the keys, police said. The teens then stole a white van and fled.
After that, the California Highway Patrol received calls about a reckless vehicle driving south, according to a news release. A Santa Barbara Sheriff's unit saw the vehicle, which matched the description of the stolen van, driving southbound on Highway 101 passing Highway 246, and authorities from the Sheriff's Office and the CHP began chasing it, officials said.
When the suspects reached the Nojoqui Grade summit, they lost control of the vehicle and went off the road, where the van's tires flattened, the Sheriff's Office said. The van continued on for a short time until it became disabled and pulled into the center divider, police said.
The two teenagers were medically evaluated and detained by the Sheriff's Office, police said. Due to their ages, their names and photographs are not being released.
The teens were arrested on suspicion of robbery, vehicle theft, felony evading law enforcement, felony child endangerment and fleeing the scene of an accident, the Sheriff's Office said.
Just after the teens were detained, a CHP officer responding to the scene was involved in a collision with several vehicles who had slowed due to the traffic. Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said four vehicles and a tractor-trailer were involved in the crash. Seven people were injured.
Patients were transported to Goleta Valley, Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospitals and both lanes of southbound Highway 101 were blocked at Nojoqui Grade. The road reopened at about 3 p.m., according to the CHP.
The southbound Highway 101 on ramps at Santa Rosa Road, Highway 246 and Damassa Road are also closed as a result of the crash.
The collision was reported at 7:13 a.m. on the south side of the grade, near Highway 1, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
There were six minor injuries and one moderate injury, including two infants with minor injuries. Eliason did not know whether the CHP officer was injured in the crash.
This story was originally published May 01, 2018 10:16 AM.