UC Santa Barbara chancellor won’t face charges in alleged campus hit-and-run accident

The California Highway Patrol has recommended UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang not face charges stemming from allegations that Yang drove a car that hit a student skateboarding on the campus and failed to stop, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The student, who suffered minor injuries, identified the chancellor as the driver. But UC Santa Barbara denied this week that Yang’s car hit the student, The Times reported Wednesday. In a statement, the university cited the CHP report saying the investigating officer found no physical evidence on the chancellor’s car of damage or contact that would indicate a collision had occurred. The CHP could not substantiate the hit-and-run allegations or the cause of the collision, citing the lack of independent witnesses, physical evidence on the car, video surveillance and some inconsistencies in statements by the student, the report said.

Yang, 81, has led UC Santa Barbara since 1994, the second longest-serving chancellor in UC history. He had refused to directly speak to investigators about the May 16 incident in which a student alleged that he was struck by the front of the car and rolled across the hood, injuring his right hip and left foot, the CHP report said, according to the Times.