News In Brief

New Cuyama High School Teacher Arrested for Alleged Illegal Sexual Relations with a Minor Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Detectives arrested a New Cuyama school teacher for allegedly having sexual relations with a minor, Ma

Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Detectives arrested a New Cuyama school teacher for allegedly having sexual relations with a minor, May 29.

According to a statement released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, 29-year-old Kelli Jo Camp was arrested at a Santa Maria group home where she works, for allegedly having an illegal sexual relationship with a 17-year-old teenager. Camp was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail.  

“At this time this is the only offense that we know of,” said Public Information Officer Erick Rainey. “That’s the reason why were trying to get this information out to the public because she had a lot of other contact with teens.”

Camp’s arrest followed a month-long investigation into allegations that Camp was having inappropriate relationships with her male students. During the investigation, detectives recovered e-mails alluding to a consensual relationship between Camp and an unidentified 17-year-old male.

“I don’t know that we have a clear timeframe about this affair or how long this was going on, but we believe that the victim was 17-years-old during the time,” Rainey said. 

Though Camp was only a temporary instructor at New Cuyama High School, she also held an instructor position at Righetti High School in Santa Maria and worked as a cheerleading instructor at Lakeview Jr. High School in Orcutt and at Central Coast Shock Wave in Santa Maria. 

“I don’t know that there’s been an increase in these types of incidents, but the laws have become stiffer and the penalties as well for those who commit crimes against our children; lawmakers have really pushed hard in the past few years to stop crimes against our children, so incidents have been in the limelight. Increase in publicity and arrests are due to an increase of public awareness about protecting our children. People are much more diligent in reporting suspicious behavior.”

 

Board Approves Upgrade for the Santa Ynez Airport

The Santa Ynez Airport is scheduled to have its landing airstrip and taxi lanes repaired. The County Board of Supervisors approved the repairs May 22. The project’s construction is estimated to cost nearly $850,000. Other costs including design, testing and construction management will bring the total project cost to $1.1 million.

“The airport needed these improvements,” said General Services Director for the County of Santa Barbara, Bob Nisbet. “This is standard pavement maintenance to roadways that start to show wear and tear. It’s necessary, pavement doesn’t last forever.”

According to the Agenda Letter the airport runway will be reconstructed using existing asphalt and pavement surfaces. Fees for the project are 95 percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, 2.4 percent by a state matching grant and 2.6 percent by the Santa Ynez Valley Airport Authority. 

 

Memorial Day Weekend Yields 13 DUI Arrests

According to a statement released by the Santa Barbara Police Department, authorities made 13 DUI arrests, 23 alcohol related arrests, and two warrant arrests during the weekend. Only one accident was reported as being the result of a DUI. Police also noted that 19 vehicles were impounded for being operated by drivers who did not have a valid driver licenses.

“This is a significant number of DUI arrests but it illustrates the priority of DUI enforcement in Santa Barbara,” said Lt. Paul McCaffrey of the Santa Barbara Police Department. “For the past several years we’ve had more people killed from DUI fatalities than other criminal homicides.” “We were just glad to not have more disturbing and larger problem calls.”

The Santa Barbara to Gaviota, Avoid the 12 multi-jurisdiction patrol sweep held on May 26 from 2 p.m. till 10 p.m. yielded no DUI arrests.

“We were pleasantly surprised at the lack of excessive alcohol consumption in the parks the Memorial Day Weekend,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Win Smith, who coordinated the Avoid crackdown.

Officers involved in the program were from State Parks Police, the Santa Barbara, Guadalupe and UCSB Sheriff’s Departments and Alan Hancock Police.

 

Santa Maria CHP Say Alcohol Played a Factor in Fatal Accident

Two people were killed and two injured as the result of a one-car collision on Santa Maria Mesa Road, May 30.

The driver, 21-year-old Christina M. Fiechter of Solvang and front passenger, 25-year-old Jeffrey M. Shreves of Santa Maria, were found dead on arrival after their 2004    

 Toyota Camry slammed into a utility pole at approximately 2:30 a.m. The other passengers, 28-year-old William Reid and Kathryn M. Fike of Santa Maria both survived the crash.

Reid was taken to the Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria where he was treated for serious injuries, but has been released since. Fike was also treated at Marian Medical Center for elbow injuries.   

“The cause of the accident is still under investigation, the report’s not complete yet so a final cause has not been determined,” said Officer Reggie Julius, accident investigation officer for the Santa Maria CHP. “Alcohol beverage containers were found within the vehicle and strewn about outside of the vehicle probably because of the force of the impact.”

Though the bodies were taken to the County Coroners Office, police have not yet received and autopsy report.

“We don’t see many accidents like this one in particularly on this road,” Julius said. “We know that alcohol had some contributory factor. There was an odor of alcohol within the vehicle. If I had to caution people, I would caution people against drinking and driving, high-speed and unsafe turning, the three of them don’t mix.”