The family of a pedestrian who was seriously injured in a collision in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood on Tuesday is asking the public for help in tracking down the person who hit him and then fled the scene.
Pepe Bolorinos, 25, was struck shortly before 9 p.m. at Oak and Scott streets as he crossed Oak in the crosswalk, according to San Francisco police.
Bolorinos was returning to his apartment in the Lower Haight with dinner after work and an evening class, according to family members.
The car, which was traveling east on Oak Street, was speeding and ran a red light before the crash, according to Officer Albie Esparza.
Bolorinos’ mother, Gayle Allard, said in a written statement today that he remains in intensive care at San Francisco General Hospital with a major brain injury as well as broken legs. He has had two surgeries so far and does not know his family is there.
“We still do not know whether he will get well,” Allard wrote today. “This gentle, idealistic young man with his fine intellect lies heavily sedated while doctors struggle for his brain to return to health.”
“We have no idea what the road to recovery will look like; we are overwhelmingly grateful that he is alive,” Allard said. “But somewhere in the city is the person who hit him and raced off leaving him to die.”
The suspect vehicle had struck a parked car at Oak and Scott shortly before the collision, and it was fleeing from that incident when it struck Pepe Bolorinos, according to family members. His twin brother, John Bolorinos, said a liquor store employee at Oak and Scott described the incident to him and saw the dents on the parked car.
The vehicle in the collision is described as a silver four-door sedan, and part of the car’s bumper fell off at the scene, family members said. No license number or suspect description has been released.
The family is asking anyone who witnessed this incident or who has information on the car or driver to call the San Francisco Police Department’s Park Station at (415) 731-2865.
Tips can also be made to the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411 with “SFPD” in the message.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
