Vanessa Noblitt sentenced for fatal DUI hit-and-run in San Luis Obispo

A San Luis Obispo County judge has sentenced Vanessa Rose Noblitt to nine years and eight months in state prison for a 2024 hit-and-run DUI crash that killed an elderly bicyclist.

On July 23, 2024, Noblitt was driving southbound on South Higuera Street when she drifted into a bike lane, striking 86-year-old Saul Goldberg and his riding companion, Martin Suits. While Suits survived with a concussion and other injuries, Goldberg died from his injuries several days later. Noblitt fled the scene but was apprehended after striking a parked car in a nearby mobile home park. At the time of her arrest, her blood alcohol concentration was measured at .31%, nearly four times the legal limit.

Noblitt pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or more causing injury, and hit-and-run. During the sentencing, Goldberg’s wife, Carol, provided a victim impact statement describing the profound loss of her husband of 64 years.