Authorities are searching for multiple people who fled the scene of a hit-and-run in Buena Park over the weekend that left the victim driver dead and his passenger in intensive care.
A red Chevrolet pickup was headed west on Auto Center Drive when it ran a red light at Western Avenue around 6:40 p.m. Saturday, Buena Park police said in a news release.
Responding officers found a red Jaguar at the scene, where the driver succumbed to his injuries. A passenger in the car was transported to the hospital in critical condition, officials said.
The pair was identified by family members as a Buena Park couple, Keith and Tami Alan, who were driving to dinner for a date night. Keith was the one driving that night, his daughter said.
“I asked mom, ‘Who drove?’ And she said, ‘Daddy, daddy drove,’” Naomi Alan said.
The occupants of the pickup involved fled on foot before police arrived, abandoning the truck at the scene.
Naomi said she was first notified by police that her mother had been hospitalized, but there was no word on her father.
“If he’s injured seriously like my mom, why isn’t he here with her? We were trying to make sense of it together,” she said.
Not getting answers, she and her siblings went to the crash site of the crash to see for themselves.
That’s when Naomi says she saw the wreckage, and realized there was a tarp covering a body. Her 58-year-old father had died at the scene.
“I want people to know he was a good man,” she said. “That he was fun and loved to help his community.”
Tami Alan remained in intensive care Wednesday. Naomi said her mother was still struggling to come to terms with her father’s death.
“She asks every day, ‘Where is your dad?’ Every day, we have to break the news to her again that he’s gone,” Naomi said. “And she has a tough time remembering that because she doesn’t remember leaving the house.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page, saying 40% of the money raised will go toward information leading to the suspect’s arrest and the rest of the funds will be used for funeral expenses.
But Naomi said she hopes the family doesn’t need a reward and that those involved turn themselves in.
“I don’t know who these people are that took my father from me. But my hope is that they’re not completely heartless, that they do the right thing,” she said.
Anyone with information can contact Buena Park police traffic investigators at 714-562-3941.