GILROY
– A hit-and-run driver struck and killed a local homeless man
known as
”
Jimbo
”
Saturday and police are still looking for the driver of the
vehicle who fled from the scene.
GILROY – A hit-and-run driver struck and killed a local homeless man known as “Jimbo” Saturday and police are still looking for the driver of the vehicle who fled from the scene.
Today many of Jimbo’s friends and associates are still in disbelief that the man known around town for his straw cowboy hat, easy-going personality and knowledge of trains is gone.
“Jimbo was a good-hearted man and he took care of people whenever he could,” said Fred Medina, who with his brother Oscar owns Westwood Barbers & Stylists in the old Nob Hill Shopping Center where Jimbo became a fixture of everyday life during the last six years.
Medina had known Jimbo for six or seven years, swapping hair cuts and shaves with him for odd jobs.
“I called the coroner yesterday and said that if his next of kin are not found we will do something for him,” Medina said this morning from his shop only a few hundred yards away from a make-shift memorial of flowers marking Jimbo’s last steps. “He deserves better; he was like family here.”
The fatal accident took place around 7:20 p.m. on a rainy Saturday night when the vehicle traveling eastbound in the right lane of First Street west of Kern Avenue collided with Jimbo who was attempting to cross the street, according to police. The vehicle with a dented front end and broken front headlight from the collision was last seen fleeing north on Kern Avenue, according to a statement a witness gave police.
Jimbo, whose real name is Jim Osterhoff, according to many of his friends, suffered massive internal injuries as a result of the accident and died later Saturday night.
Police are now looking for either a dark colored SUV type vehicle or a light colored, full-size American pickup truck, possibly white or silver, with a broken headlamp lens and a possible cracked windshield on the passenger side. The truck’s rear fenders may be flared out.
“I saw him lying there in the heavy rain in the gutter on the south side of First (Street),” said Mayor Tom Springer, who was talking to city workers clearing nearby storm drains on First Street and was one of the first people on the scene following the hit-and-run. “He was still alive at the time, but he was in very bad shape – it was clear he wasn’t going to make it.”
Paramedic and fire crews arrived on the scene within minutes and Jimbo was taken by ambulance to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, but he died during the night, according to the county coroner’s office.
The coroner’s office would not confirm Jimbo’s name this morning because his next of kin has not been notified.
Medina said Jimbo did not talk much about his family, but believes they might reside in Oregon. He also said that although Jimbo had an alcohol problem, he was never belligerent.
“I must have seen him cross that street a million times,” he said. “He always seemed to be in control. I don’t think alcohol had anything to do with (his death).”
Not much is known about the tall and slender man who often camped in an orchard near Santa Teresa Boulevard and First Street except that he was in his mid-50s, worked a career as a railroad man in Oregon with Union Pacific and was estranged from his family.
Only days before his death, Jimbo had made the final payment on a train set he bought from All Aboard Junction, a hobby store located in the old Nob Hill Center and another one of his frequent hangouts.
Jimbo had been paying for the $45 train set in installments to store owner Pat DeLeon, who said Jimbo had plans to pick up the set on Christmas Eve.
“When he ordered the train he said it was for a Christmas gift for a friend of his who was a kid,” DeLeon said. “We are all very sad that Jimbo isn’t around here anymore drinking his coffee and talking about trains. Everyone liked Jimbo and he was always welcomed. He’ll be missed.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the hit and run to call the GPD at 846-0300.
