Woman pleads guilty to manslaughter for DUI crash that killed bicyclist

September 16, 2026

Vanessa Noblitt

By KAREN VELIE

The drunk driver driver who struck two bicyclists in a hit-and-run in 2024 that resulted in the death of 87-year-old Saul Goldberg of Avila Beach pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges  this week.

Vanessa Rose Noblitt pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving with a blood alcohol concentration greater than .15 percent causing great bodily injury or death, and hit and run. She faces a sentence of nine years and eight months in state prison.

Shortly before noon on July 23, 2024, Goldberg and a 73-year-old bicyclist were riding southbound on S. Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo near the cemetery when a white sedan hit and injured them. The driver did not stop.

Goldberg died of his injuries a week after the collision. The 73-year-old rider sustained moderate injuries.

Within minutes of the collision, 44-year-old Vanessa Noblitt, a resident of Bend, Oregon, hit a parked car and was ultimately arrested for DUI and hit and run. Noblitt was found to have a blood alcohol content four times the legal limit.

Officers soon began to investigate both collisions as possibly related. Through the investigation, detectives obtained evidence identifying Noblitt as the drive responsible for the death of Goldberg.

Noblitt is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 13.