OJAI : Motorist Dies in Plunge Down Embankment
A 34-year-old Santa Barbara County man died Wednesday after his car swerved off California 33 and plunged 40 feet down an embankment into the Ventura River, authorities said.
Caltrans workers found Beningo Mauro Bolanos of New Cuyama lying in the river bottom about five feet from his crashed Honda Civic about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said.
Bolanos was unconscious but had no marks or wounds on his body, Stevens said. He was taken to Ojai Valley Community Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:15 a.m.
“We don’t know if he fell out of the car or crawled out,” Stevens said.
California Highway Patrol officers were not certain when the accident took place.
“They found him at 9 a.m., but we have no way of knowing when the accident occurred,” Officer Dawn Heavyside said. Bolanos apparently lost control of the car while driving south on the highway, she said.
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