A former lieutenant at the sheriff’s office in Santa Barbara County has pleaded guilty to charges related to a 2019 drunk driving accident on Highway 154 that sent several people to the hospital.
Javier Jonathan Antunez of Goleta, now 46, changed his plea in the high court in Santa Barbara on March 29 and will return within two months for sentencing.
Then a lieutenant in the conservation operations, Antunez, is accused of causing three vehicles on Highway 154 near Cachuma Lake on September 14, 2019.
The California Highway Patrol said Antunez was traveling east with a passenger in a BMW when the vehicle was driving right in front of a western Toyota Tacoma, driven by Enrique Calderon-Mendez of Santa Barbara.
The driver of a third vehicle, a Santa Barbara woman driving a western Jeep, could not avoid the wreckage and hit the back of the Toyota.
Six people, including Antunez, were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment of various injuries after the crash, authorities said.
Judith Hall of Santa Barbara, a passenger in the Toyota, was taken to hospital in a Calstar medical helicopter for treatment of serious injuries.
Antunez and his passenger, Esther Emiko Trejo of Santa Barbara, also both sustained serious injuries.
Two other passengers in the Toyota, Dolores Gutierrez and Evelia Dominguez, both from Santa Barbara, sustained moderate injuries. Calderon-Mendez, the driver, sustained minor injuries.
Antunez originally faced a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, and a crime drive with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more, which injured, in addition to an improvement to five other people major bodily injury cause. criminal complaint filed in the Supreme Court in Santa Barbara.
Under the agreement, Antunez pleaded guilty to criminal mischief under the influence that caused the injury, and according to the California Attorney General’s Office, acknowledged an improvement in sentencing.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the plea agreement should be sentenced to six years in prison.
Antunez was ordered to return to court on May 24 for sentencing.
Because of the improvement in sentencing, Antunez was sentenced to 16 years in prison per charge if convicted in this case, according to the criminal charge.
The district attorney’s office asked the attorney general’s office to handle the investigation and prosecution in this case to prevent the occurrence of a possible conflict of interest, as an employee was one of the injured passengers.
Jonathan Kline of the Attorney General’s office led the prosecution team, while Antunez was represented by Josh Lynn.
Hall was an investigator for the district attorney. She also serves as a board member for the Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff Association.
In addition, Trejo apparently worked for the probation department in Santa Barbara.
Antunez has worked for the sheriff since 1999 and was not on duty during the clash, Lieutenant Erik Raney said in 2019.
Following the crash, Antunez was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
He retired from the sheriff in February 2020, spokesman Raquel Zick said on Tuesday.
In addition to the criminal charges, Antunez has been nominated in civil lawsuits arising from the clash.
– Janene Scully, editor of Noozhawk North County, can be reached (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Get in touch with Noozhawk on Facebook.