California Highway Patrol confirmed that Joseph Fletcher, 42, was arrested for a suspected alcohol DUI about an hour after crashing his Jeep Compass into a house on the 100 block of Lassen Drive around 7 p.m. last Tuesday, August 11. He was then transported to Goleta Valley Hospital, where he was released from police custody for treatment of minor injuries.
The Goleta house was home to five people and their four pet dogs, all of whom were home and none of which were injured at the time of the crash. Fletcher caused extensive damage to the home, leaving firefighters to red-tag the structure and displacing the family.
According to CHP, Fletcher claimed that he blacked out while driving, which caused him to veer off the road and hit the house. Resident Amber Belletti told an Independent reporter that a can fell out of Fletcher’s car when he got out of his Jeep after the crash.
Fletcher refused a preliminary alcohol screening test, which uses a hand-held breathalyzer device measuring blood alcohol levels and is a common part of field sobriety tests. This test is optional for people over the age of 21 and not on probation. He did submit to a mandatory chemical blood alcohol test, the results of which are not publicly available at the time of publication.
According to Belletti, due to costs and pet restrictions, her mother, aunt, grandmother, and father are staying in a hotel in Santa Maria with the dogs while the family waits for assistance from drivers and homeowners insurance. The family has set up a GoFundMe for those who wish to help with out of pocket relocation expenses while they wait for insurance to kick in.
