An autopsy Monday ruled the death of a 20-year-old UCLA football player who was hit and killed by a car in South Orange County to be accidental, as his family, friends and coach mourned their sudden loss.
Nicholas Pasquale died about 1:30 a.m. Sunday as he was walking at Camino De Los Mares near Calle Nuevo in San Clemente, the Orange County Coroner’s Office said.
Pasquale died of "multiple blunt force injuries," according to the coroner's autopsy.
Pasquale was a walk-on freshman on the UCLA football squad as a wide receiver who came from a line of family members involved in athletics. Pasquale was a former football Triton at San Clemente High School and his brother also played for San Clemente. His father is an assistant coach there.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department was investigating the cause of the crash. The driver involved remained at the scene and called police, officials said. The driver was released. Neither alcohol nor drugs were suspected, officials said.
UCLA head football coach Jim Mora called Pasquale "an outstanding young man who had a positive impact on everyone who knew him.
"He was a tremendous influence in our locker room," Mora said during a press conference on Monday.
NBC4 wants to apologize for an incident that we caused Monday afternoon at the news conference with UCLA head coach Jim Mora.
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As Mora was talking about the tragic passing of Nick Pasquale, one of our technicians was in the back of the press on the phone with our station.
It disrupted the coach. Understandably, Mora abruptly ended the news conference saying our technician was being disrespectful.
There is no excuse for this incident.
We deeply regret it and want to apologize to the Pasquale family, Mora and all of UCLA.
We are sorry.
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