Cyclist remembers his ‘best friend’ as Oregon woman enters plea in deadly SLO hit-and-run
The woman accused of driving drunk and striking two bicyclists — killing one — in San Luis Obispo pleaded not guilty to her charges Wednesday.
On July 23, Vanessa Noblitt, 44, allegedly hit 74-year-old Martin Suits and 87-year-old Saul Goldberg, both of Avila Beach, while the two were riding electric bicycles near the cemetery on South Higuera Street before fleeing the scene.
Suits survived with moderate injuries, but Goldberg died days later in the hospital.
“There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about it,” Suits told The Tribune after court. “I miss Saul a lot because he was probably my best friend at the time.”
Noblitt was arrested in Oregon on Dec. 19 and charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence, DUI causing injury, and DUI with blood alcohol content above .08 — all felonies — plus misdemeanor property damage hit-and-run.
The charges carry several sentencing enhancements, including inflicting great bodily injury, injuring multiple victims and having a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher.
The next hearing was scheduled for Feb. 4.
Defendant’s BAC was nearly four times the legal limit, prosecutor says
Noblitt’s attorney, Kenneth Cirisan, argued for Noblitt to be released on her own recognizance in lieu of her $160,000 bail.
He said his client had “many ties here,” including her mother living in San Luis Obispo and sister living in Grover Beach.
Noblitt graduated from Lompoc High School and went to Allan Hancock College, Cirisan said. In Oregon, she’s a mother and co-owns a construction business with her husband.
The attorney added that Noblitt is a volunteer for her ministry and teaches Sunday school and preschool, which “indicates she has very good character.” He said her family, who she would be staying with for the duration of the court case, will make sure she does not miss her court dates.
He also said Noblitt would agree to any release terms and conditions, including wearing a GPS ankle bracelet.
San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Mahjoubeh Foolad argued Noblitt’s bail should remain at $160,000.
She said Noblitt’s husband reportedly told law enforcement in an August interview “every time she is around her mother, this is what happens. She drinks, she can’t control herself.”
Noblitt’s husband does not visit her family, Foolad said, which is why he was not there when the crash occurred.
“This extended family here in county are perhaps the instigators for which she was a .31 (blood alcohol content) that day,” Foolad told the judge.
The legal limit in California is .08, making Noblitt’s alleged BAC level nearly four times the legal limit.
Noblitt left her mother’s house around 8 a.m. that day before crashing into Goldberg and Suits around noon, Foolad said. It’s unclear what Noblitt did during those four hours.
Foolad said the District Attorney’s Office was opposed to Noblitt staying with her family members and also opposed to her going to Oregon.
“The only way to be certain that the defendant is not a public safety risk or flight risk is to leave bail as set,” Foolad argued.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Barry LaBarbera said he would not release Noblitt without bail, but would consider lowering it to “in the neighborhood of $100,000.” He said $100,000 was the lowest he could go given the charges.
He said he would only release Noblitt with bail because, if she did miss a court date, the bail bondsman would find her for the court. If she was released without bail, LaBarbera said, the oversight would be more difficult.
How did police investigate the crime?
Noblitt allegedly side-swiped the first bike then hit the second before fleeing the scene of the crash.
Both men, who were wearing helmets, were thrown to the ground, police said at the time.
Minutes later, police said, Noblitt struck a parked car in a nearby mobile home community.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department investigated the two crashes as related. After finding evidence linking Noblitt to the fatal crash, police said, the agency served search warrants at Noblitt’s Bend, Oregon, home and seized her vehicle in August.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Noblitt on Dec. 9.
Noblitt was arrested by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon and eventually extradited to San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office custody before her first court appearance on Jan. 8.
Cyclists were best friends, rode bikes together for 10 years
July 23 was supposed to be just another Tuesday for Suits and Goldberg.
The two neighbors left their Avila Beach homes around 10 a.m. to go on their 25-mile bike ride — a twice-weekly tradition they practiced each Tuesday and Friday.
They rode from Avila to Madonna and Higuera Street, stopped for coffee at the Nautical Bean, then were on their way back to Avila, Suits said.
Suits said he remembers seeing the car close in and begin pushing him to the side. Then the vehicle collided with Goldberg, who went down on the ground on his bike.
“I saw his bicycle and realized that I was not going to be able to avoid it,” Suits said.
Then, he was on the ground.
“I have not recollection of the impact at all,” Suits said. “The first thing I remembered was trying to get up, and I was able to finally stand up, but nothing worked. My body just fell back down.”
Suits said he saw Goldberg was badly injured and attempted to call 911 but couldn’t “get that together. I was just so out of it.”
He said he saw a white sedan pull over and stop down the street, then as he was still attempting to dial 911, he made out an ambulance coming from the other direction.
Suits began waving and yelling, which successfully flagged down the ambulance. Goldberg was unresponsive at the time the ambulance arrived and was immediately taken to the hospital, Suits said.
He then called his wife, who was able to pick him up and take him to the hospital.
Suits didn’t break any bones and a MRI showed he did not have a brain bleed, but all 10 of his fingers were jammed and bleeding. He said his right arm was bruised from his wrist to his shoulder. The bruises and scratches healed, but he still has trouble with his fingers and goes to physical therapy for them.
“You don’t realize how much you use your fingers until you have problems with them,” he said.
The following week, Suits was supposed to serve as an assigned judge in El Dorado County, which he canceled because of his injuries. He doesn’t know if he’ll return to the assigned judge program.
“(The crash) kind of changed my whole attitude in terms of the uncertainties of life,” Suits said. “For Saul to be so vibrant and alive ... for him to be snuffed out and so quickly, it was very shocking and emotionally very tough.”
He said the first month was the most difficult, but even now days can be hard. Goldberg was his best friend, he said.
The two met when Suits moved into Goldberg’s neighborhood in 2012, then began cycling together twice a week for the next 10 years. It was their routine.
“We spent a lot of time together and a lot of the time just the two of us talking and that kind of relationship — especially for somebody our age — that’s an investment in time,” Suits said. “Losing that investment is very hard, and it’s much more difficult for somebody my age to re-form those kind of long-term relationships.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM.
