The New Year took a tragic turn in the early morning hours of 1/2, when 20-year-old Ryan Hofmann of Santa Barbara died in a car accident while being pursued by authorities on Highway 101. According to the California Highway Patrol, just before 2 a.m., officers saw Hofmann’s Honda CR-V merge onto the northbound 101 at Mission Street at about 85 miles per hour. With CHP in pursuit, Hofmann allegedly accelerated to 120 miles per hour before swerving into the rear end of a tractor trailer rig. Hofmann was pronounced dead at the scene.
