Overview
- A vehicle ran off West Cliff Drive near Steamer Lane around 12:50 a.m. Thursday and plunged down the cliff into the ocean, leaving one occupant with minor injuries and another who was pulled from the submerged car and later died.
- The Santa Cruz County coroner identified the deceased on Monday as 19-year-old Alli Renee Singh, a UC Santa Cruz psychology major, and the university said it is offering support to students and staff.
- Multiple agencies mounted the night ocean rescue, with four Santa Cruz Fire rescue swimmers extracting the trapped victim and all five city fire units plus Central Fire District and Scotts Valley Fire personnel responding to the scene.
- The Santa Cruz Police Department is conducting an active investigation into the cause of the crash and who was driving, with police saying the driver was female while some family accounts reported a different driver; those details remain unresolved.
- The crash underscores safety risks on the narrow, erosion-damaged stretch of West Cliff Drive and could increase pressure on the city's plan to move about 600 feet of roadway inland next year to reduce cliffside hazards.