UPDATE 17 June 2026: Gabriel Esquivel, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder of cyclists Kellie Standish, 33, and William Colby Tucker, 39, according to a Ventura County District Attorney’s Office news release. District Attorney Erik Nasarenko also announced that Esquivel is charged with murder because he had previously been warned about the deadly consequences of impaired driving following a December 19, 2025, DUI arrest. That case remains pending in Ventura County Superior Court.

Two cyclists died and a third sustained injuries on Thursday evening after a pickup truck driver, suspected of driving under the influence, struck three riders from behind on Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) near Solimar Beach Road, just north of Ventura, California.

According to the California Highway Patrol’s Ventura Area and Coastal Division, the crash occurred at around 19:08 on Thursday 11 June 2026 as the cyclists rode northbound in a designated bike lane. A preliminary investigation determined that a gray Nissan Frontier pickup truck was travelling north on PCH at between 50 and 55 mph when it veered onto the right shoulder and entered the bicycle lane where the three cyclists were riding.

A 33-year-old woman from Bend, Oregon died at the scene. A 39-year-old Ventura man died after being transported to Ventura County Medical Center. A third rider, identified only as a woman, was taken to the same hospital with injuries described as minor to moderate. Authorities have not confirmed whether the three cyclists were riding together.

The driver, a 24-year-old Oxnard man, continued north after the impact before striking a guardrail and coming to rest on the shoulder. CHP investigators arrested him at the scene on suspicion of felony DUI causing injury, murder, and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He is being held at Ventura County jail on US$1 million bail, with a court hearing scheduled for Monday 15 June 2026.

The crash marks at least the sixth and seventh cycling fatalities recorded in Ventura County so far in 2026, renewing concerns over rider safety along the PCH corridor.

Photo Credit: CHP Ventura

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