FALLBROOK, Calif. (KGTV) - A North County family is in search of answers after a 21-year-old skateboarder was killed by a hit-and-run driver Sunday.
“It breaks you. It really breaks you,” said Uziel Garcia.
Two days later, a big brother remains mired in grief and disbelief.
“It was heartbreaking. I was in shock,” he said.
Garcia says on Sunday night, around 9:30 p.m., his 21-year-old brother Nathan had just gotten back from the movies, grabbed his skateboard, and left his Fallbrook home to go skateboarding.
Not long after, a neighbor knocked on their door. Word from that frantic neighbor sent Garcia and his mom running down the street.
There, CHP officers were working on an unconscious Garcia, who would die at the scene.
According to the CHP, Nathan was walking west on View Street, presumably holding his skateboard, when a blue sedan heading in the same direction, struck him.
The car, then took off.
After Nathan died, his grieving mother was at his side.
“She just lay next to him on the side of the road, holding him,” said Garcia.
Garcia calls his brother, a Fallbrook High School graduate and Home Depot employee, a funny, selfless, and loving person, especially in how he cared for his mom.
“If she had to go out at night for any reason, he would jump out of bed and grab a flashlight, and make sure she was safe,” said Garcia.
Uziel says the way his brother's life was struck down is hard to grasp.
“The person is cowardly,” said Garcia. “You don’t hit somebody, and leave them on the side of road at night, to die."
Garcia is now making an appeal to the public to track down the hit-and-run driver.
“How do you do that? How do you live with yourself? … They need to be held accountable for what they did,” said Garcia.
The car is described as a blue sedan, possibly a Honda Accord, with windshield damage. Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP Oceanside office at 760-643-3400.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral and other expenses.
