Shomik Mukherjee
News Editor
A Santa Barbara City College student fell from the oceanside cliffs of Isla Vista Saturday night, suffering major head trauma.
Around 10:30 p.m., Isla Vista Foot Patrol officers noticed the student, Anthony Palleschi, standing in Walter Capps Park. The public park sits on the 6700 block of Del Playa Drive and overlooks the beach.
Palleschi, 19, ran and jumped over the 390-foot wood and chain-link fence that blocks the park off from the I.V. mountain bluffs. He fell off the cliff, landing on the beach below, said Lt. Kevin Huddle of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities located Palleschi at a beach access point, providing aid to the student while emergency medical personnel arrived to the scene.
“Law enforcement personnel found Palleschi face down and unresponsive in the rising surf, appearing to have suffered major head trauma,” Huddle said.
Responders then transported Palleschi to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to be treated for his injuries.
“Palleschi’s family has been notified,” Huddle said. “It is unknown whether drugs or alcohol played a factor in this cliff fall.”