Police are searching for a 28-year-old Hispanic man who hit and
killed a 43-year-old Gilroyan on Hecker Pass Highway then fled.
Police are searching for a 28-year-old Hispanic man who hit and killed a 43-year-old Gilroyan on Hecker Pass Highway then fled.
About 7 p.m. Saturday, the man, driving eastbound on Hecker Pass Highway in a 1993 Acura Integra with five other men, hit Martin Corona as he crossed the highway near Whitehurst Road, police said. The vehicle struck Corona on the right leg, throwing him onto the windshield, police said. The blow caused major head trauma and CalFire officials declared the victim dead at the scene by 7:20 p.m., police said.
“We’re still in shock,” said Lupe Barba, a family friend who sat on Corona’s porch on Sherwood Drive Monday afternoon with friends and family. Pumpkins lined the concrete walkway of a neat and tidy front yard. Barba translated for several friends and Corona’s mother, who did not speak English. They couldn’t believe what happened and believed he was supposed to be attending a friend’s party the night he died, Barba said.
“He did everything,” Barba said. “He was a good dad. He had lots of friends.”
Corona left behind four daughters and a wife, who spent Monday at the funeral home making arrangements. Barba said she did not know when the funeral would be held and that, with no help from the driver’s insurance company, the family was struggling to make ends meet.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Jocelyn Corona, the victim’s 18-year-old daughter. “We were really close.”
Corona moved from Mexicali when he was 15-years-old and worked at an assisted living facility in Hollister, Barba said.
The victim had parked his car on the side of Hecker Pass Highway and was walking across the street away from his car when he was hit, police said.
After being alerted about the accident by several witnesses in the area, police found the Acura abandoned about half a mile east of the accident scene, police said. The impact of the accident shattered the windshield, causing facial lacerations to the driver and front passenger. Gilroy police responded with a K-9 unit but lost the suspects’ trail south of the scene, police said.
At 10:49 p.m., police received a call from Gilroy Gardens security reporting several men talking about being in an accident, police said. The park was closed, but security officers were in the area – about two miles east of the accident scene – and heard the men, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jaime Rios.
But an anxious father who wouldn’t give his name said that the security officers weren’t so astute and only called the police after a group of mothers chaperoning about 200 Girl Scouts on an overnight camping trip in the area urged them to. He said one of the mothers also called 911 after the passengers, some of whom were bleeding and shoeless, were spotted roaming in the area of the young girls.
Police located the Acura’s five passengers, who identified the driver as a resident of the Rodriguez labor camp, police said. Police went to the camp, but could not locate the suspect. Police would not release the name given to them by his passengers until they can confirm it through fingerprinting, Rios said. Police may also run a blood analysis from the blood stains in the front seat, he said. The suspect likely has lacerations on his face.
“It’s not that we don’t believe (the passengers) were giving the right name, we just need to confirm it,” Rios said.
Although there was “a bit of a language barrier,” the men riding in the Acura were cooperative, Rios said. One passenger was taken to the hospital with cuts on his face and hands. The others were released without being charged.
The Acura is currently at the Gilroy Police Department undergoing fingerprint analysis, Rios said.
The men were heading to the Rodriguez labor camp in southeast Gilroy from Watsonville, police said. Rios said he did not know if alcohol was involved.
Pay your respects
Corona’s wake will be held from 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Habing Family Funeral Home, 129 Fourth St.
The funeral mass will be held 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary Church, 11 First St.
The family welcomes any donations, which can be made at local grocery stores, such as Arteaga’s and Del Sol Market.
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