An Arizona father was crushed to death while attempting to repair his wife’s car, and witnesses to the accident shockingly stole the victim’s valuables instead of helping, leaving his family devastated, according to police.
The incident happened June 17 in a Phoenix parking lot, where Jeronimo Garcia Guerra was working beneath the broken-down car when his jack collapsed, leaving him trapped for several hours before a passerby called 911, investigators said.
By the time police arrived, thieves had stolen everything from Guerra’s pockets, looted the car he had been working on, and even made off with the vehicle he arrived in to work on the car that needed repairs.
Sprawled on the pavement, Guerra was tragically left for dead.
Family members said they are outraged at the brazenness of the crime.
“He always believed nobody out there is going to help you. In this situation, he was right,” Guerra’s son, Jerry Garcia Jr., told AZFamily.
The car broke down less than two miles from the family’s home as Guerra drove his wife to work, police said.
Later, Guerra drove his daughter’s car back to the parking lot where his wife’s car stalled out.
It’s not clear what was wrong with the vehicle, but it required Guerra to get underneath to fix it.
Investigators said Guerra arrived back at the parking lot around 9:45 a.m., but it wasn’t until about noon that police were called, his daughter Monica Garcia told the station, admitting that she wasn’t exactly sure how the tragedy unfolded.
Investigators have not said whether the car killed the man instantly or if he was slowly crushed to death under its enormous weight.
Either way, no one called for help.
“Who knows when the car really fell on him,” Monica Garcia told the station, fighting back tears. “Who knows how long he’s been under there?”
So far, police have not made any arrests, but detectives indicated they were reviewing surveillance camera footage in the area, hopeful to identify a suspect.
Heartbroken, Monica Garcia described the perpetrators as cold-blooded crooks.
“After everything, they went through my dad’s pockets and my mom’s car and took off with my car,” she stammered. “It’s hard because I would never do that to somebody. I could care less about my car, but at least they could have stayed there with him until help came. At least I would’ve known he wasn’t by himself all day until somebody decided to say, ‘Oh my God, he’s not moving.’”
A day later, the stolen car turned up abandoned near the crime scene, but Guerra’s daughter emphasized that her father’s untimely death remained her only concern.
“That’s somebody’s dad, somebody’s husband, a grandparent, somebody’s best friend. He’s my person. And I don’t have that anymore because somebody couldn’t stop and check,” she told the station.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs and to settle Guerra’s finances.
