SPEEDING CAR KILLS 4 NEAR UCSB; STUDENT ARRESTED.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

SANTA BARBARA - An 18 year-old student drove a speeding car Friday night into a group of students, killing four on a street in the Isla Vista area where young people gather for weekend parties and socializing adjacent to the UCSB campus, officials said.

``The loss of these young people is a terrible tragedy,'' University of California, Santa Barbara, Chancellor Henry Yang said in a statement Saturday. ``We are in mourning.''

David Edward Attias, a UCSB student from Santa Monica, was behind the wheel of a 1991 Saab Sedan that struck nine parked cars before colliding with a group of pedestrians, said California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Muell.

Attias is being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Muell said.

Investigators said a crowd of people gathered after the incident and held the ``uncooperative'' suspect until officers arrived.

Muell estimated the Saab's speed at close to 60 miles per hour, more than double the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour on the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde. According to investigators, the impact knocked some of the victims out of their shoes and socks.

``He was driving down the road extremely fast, drifted right and sideswiped a car,'' Muell said. ``He rolled down the row, sideswiping nine in a row. In that process, he hit the five pedestrians who were walking down the street next to the parked cars.''

Attias' parents, identified as Daniel and Diana Attias of Santa Monica, expressed disbelief upon learning of the news.

``We don't have any information right now, so we can't really discuss it,'' said Daniel Attias, who is apparently a television director and producer.

The four killed included two 20-year-old men who were students at UCSB - one from Contra Costa County, one from San Diego County, a 27-year-old man from San Francisco and an unidentified woman in her 20s who is believed to be a Santa Barbara City College student living in Isla Vista, officials said.

A fifth victim, also a 27-year-old male who was apparently the roommate of the San Franciscan, was taken to by ambulance Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

According to the hospital's administrative nursing supervisor, as of Saturday morning, the injured man remained in the intensive care unit in critical condition with head injuries and two broken legs. David Attias was treated for minor cuts and scratches, and the car sustained massive damage.

``It's the worst thing I've ever seen,'' Charlie Johnson, a Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman, told the Santa Barbara News-Press after the crash Friday night. ``It looks like a war scene.''

Students described Sabado Tarde as a small residential street, generally filled with partygoers on weekends.

``Nobody drives at all,'' said a 20-year-old student who declined to give her name. ``If you do have a car, you can only drive 5 miles an hour. I was walking on Sabado, back to my house. It sounded kinda like gunshots - boom, boom, boom. It was really bad.''

UCSB will offer counselors to affected students, and is working to arrange a memorial service.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Blankets cover the victims of an out-of-control driver who killed four pedestrians Friday night in Isla Vista.

Steve Malone/Santa Barbara News-Press