'He liked to help people': Partner of Good Samaritan killed on Hwy 101 speaks out

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) -- The California Highway Patrol Redwood City is looking for the driver responsible for killing a Good Samaritan in an early morning hit-and-run crash.

It happened just before 2 a.m. Friday, north of the 3rd Avenue Exit on southbound 101.

The man's longtime partner identified him as Jose Garcia Aguilar, 31.

RELATED: Good Samaritan struck, killed on Highway 101 in San Mateo

Olga Bautista explained Aguilar was making his way home from work. She said he was driving from Burlingame to San Carlos, where the couple and their 6-year-old son were living.

Bautista sent Aguilar a text when he didn't arrive home, at 2 a.m.

"And he never answered back," she said. "So I waited, and I kind of fell asleep for a little bit and I woke up again and he wasn't there."

Aguilar wouldn't make it home.

At 1:54 a.m., the driver of a black Scion crashed into a center median just north of the 3rd Avenue exit in San Mateo.

Two other southbound drivers ended up hitting the Scion.

A fourth driver- Aguilar- stopped to help, according to CHP Redwood City.

Bautista said, "He was always like that. He liked to help people."

"He put on his hazards, stopped, blocking the #1 lane, and got out of his vehicle," CHP Officer Pablo Rios told ABC7 News. "Trying to assist the other people that were broken down on the road."

Shortly after, Aguilar was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

"I always told him just to be careful," Bautista said. "But I think he was just thinking of helping."

Those living off the 3rd Avenue exit know all about Hwy 101 traffic problems in the area.

For nearly 70 years, resident Leonard Johnson has heard collisions ring through the neighborhood.

"You can hear this screeching and the crash," Johnson said. "And several times, I came out of my house to see who done got hurt."

RELATED: Man arrested after injuring 2 in hit-and-run in San Francisco

Friday's crash resulted in the death of a Good Samaritan

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Now, Aguilar's family is begging the driver responsible to come forward.

"He took a life, and now we're suffering," Bautista said. "And my kid, he's just six-years-old."

Officer Rios said witnesses reported seeing the Good Samaritan hit by a blue or green box-shaped SUV- possibly a Scion or Subaru.

The driver has not been located.

The driver of the Scion, involved in the initial crash, was taken to Stanford Hospital with major injuries.

Anyone with information is being encouraged to call Officer Castro at (650) 369-6261.

Click here for a GoFundMe campaign, organized by Aguilar's family.