Crime · San Luis Obispo, CA
Woman Sentenced to Nearly Decade in Prison for Fatal SLO DUI Crash
Vanessa Rose Noblitt, 45, of Oregon was sentenced Tuesday to nine years and eight months in prison for hitting and killing 87-year-old cyclist Saul Goldberg and injuring Martin Suits, 74, both of Avila Beach, while driving drunk on South Higuera Street near the cemetery in San Luis Obispo on July 23, 2024. Noblitt, whose blood alcohol content was 0.31—nearly four times the legal limit—and who had a prior DUI conviction from 2006, pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter, felony DUI causing injury, and hit-and-run, with a second-degree murder charge dismissed as part of the plea deal. Goldberg was a Cal Poly electrical engineering professor and department chairman who completed seven triathlons in SLO County up to age 80. His wife, Carol Goldberg, delivered an emotional victim impact statement at the sentencing.