Richard Urzúa was on his way to buy food and medicine for his parents when he was run over while trying to cross the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and Indiana Street, in the South Gate area.
The incident occurred on Sunday, September 13, shortly after 12:30 p.m. The driver fled the scene without stopping to provide the necessary help.
"We received a call from the hospital that he had been run over, left for dead, they left him on the street and that he was in critical condition," said Sonia Ramírez, Urzúa's sister.
The family was just getting over the anguish and plight of their parents, who are recovering after surviving COVID-19.
"It is a crime … all the suffering that my brother is going through and the one that he is going to live, if he survives this, and the pain that it is causing my mother and my father," says Ramírez.
Ramírez points out that Urzúa, 54, is the oldest of eight siblings and was in charge of caring for their parents. Now, he is hospitalized in a coma, connected to an artificial respiration system and with serious brain damage.
The South Gate Police Department released a photo of the suspect's vehicle, a black Chrysler 300 with tinted windows. Because of the accident, the car has a visible bump on the driver's side.
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Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the South Gate Police Department at (323) 563-5436.
