Authorities release name of victim in fatal car accident along Highway 154 on Sunday

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office on Monday released the identity of the man who died in a fatal car accident on Highway 154 near Buellton on Sunday.

Joseph Anthony Nunez, 40 of Santa Maria, died in a three-car head-on collision on Highway 154 west of Meadowvale Road on Sunday morning, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Nunez was the driver and sole occupant of his car. In the second car, there were two men and one woman, all with mild injuries and transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and one woman in the third car.

The accident closed the highway to traffic for over five hours.

There was no additional information as to how the incident occurred.