Loved ones of a man who was hit by three cars whose drivers left him for dead in the middle of a Pacoima road gathered Friday to mourn him.
Surveillance footage captured the moment three vehicles struck Francisco Garcia, 41, on Jan. 12. He was initially hit by a truck traveling the wrong way on San Fernando Road as he attempted to cross a street. While trying to get up, a second vehicle struck Garcia, throwing his body several feet away. Then, a third car hit him.
None of the drivers stopped to help.
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“Seeing the video, it hit me because not one person … they just tossed him like it was a piece of trash, like if it was a box and they went over him like it was nothing,” said Jessica Madrigal, Garcia’s cousin.
Candles and flowers rest near the area where Garcia was killed. His devastated family held a vigil in his honor and demanded the drivers come forward.
“We just want justice,” said Norma Garcia, Francisco’s sister. “We want those people … they have loved ones, too, who go through the same thing.”
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According to the victim’s family, Garcia lived with mental health issues and despite their best efforts to help him, he was living on the streets.
“We tried giving him food, water, clothing,” Francisco’s nephew, Daniel, said. “We honestly thought he was going to be coming back, to just come back on his feet.”
The man’s relatives said losing him was already hard enough, but it absolutely devastates them that no one cared to stop and help him during his dying moments.
“Nobody got off, nobody pulled off to the side,” Norma said. “It shouldn’t have happened like that.”
The investigation is ongoing. No arrests were reported. The LAPD has asked for help in identifying the drivers.
